The “Omnibus”
by Taylor

The word “bus” is a shortened version for the real word, omnibus. An omnibus is defined as a large-wheeled vehicle, used to carry a lot of people and the driver. Today when people think of a bus, they might think of something that looks like this…

Single-level bus you might see in the United States of America.

Yiu, Chaffee. Welcome to Chaffee’s Buspage!. Copyrighted image used with permission. 31 December 2004 <http://www.chaffeeyiu.com/>

But there are also buses that look like this…

Double-decker bus you might see in Hong Kong.

Yiu, Chaffee. Welcome to Chaffee’s Buspage! Copyrighted image used with permission. 28 December 2004 <http://www.chaffeeyiu.com/wallpaper/ctb-411-788.jpg>

And this…

Mini-bus you would see in Macao (China).

Yiu, Chaffee. Welcome to Chaffee’s Buspage! Copyrighted image used with permission. 31 December 2004 <http://www.chaffeeyiu.com/macau/saal-5.jpg>

And of course this…

School bus found in the United States of America.

Rauber, Cheyne. Bus Depot. Copyrighted image used with permission. 31 December 2004 <http://rds.yahoo.com/S=96062883/K=school%2Bbus/v=2/SID=e/l=IVI/SIG=12467d6u2/EXP=1104597862>

As you can see, there are many types of buses all around the world. Some of their uses are:

Driving people around town from one place to another.
Driving people from their job to their homes.
Driving tourists throughout a city.
Providing jobs for people who work with the bus companies.

Current-day buses have evolved from other types of transportation such as the horse-drawn carriage…

“-Galways – Ireland.” PHP Maxphotos.net. Copyrighted image used with permission. 31 December 2004 <http://www.maxphotos.net/dublin/thumbs/biroccio.jpg>

and the electric trolley…

Garwood, Ann and Moors, Nancy. “Historical Images.” Hillquest. Copyrighted image used with permission. 31 December 31 2004 <http://sandiegohistory.org/collections/streetc ar/images/7794.jpg>

Both these two ways of transportation are still used today, but are not as popular as they used to be. The horse-drawn carriage’s main problems are:

Only a few people can ride the carriage at one time.
Keeping the horse healthy.
Cleaning up after the horse.
Keeping control of the horse so passengers and pedestrians don’t get hurt.
The slower speeds that horses pull the carriage.
Outside temperatures could affect the horses; too cold or too hot would hurt, or even kill the horse.

Some advantages to the horse-drawn carriage:

It can go wherever the passenger want it to go.
They are cheap to buy and maintain.

The electric trolley’s main disadvantages are:

Electrical wires and tracks (or rails) need to be put up throughout the entire city, limiting the number of places the trolley can go.
People can get hurt on the tracks, by the electrical wires, or even by getting hit by the trolley.
The trolley system costs more to install and maintain which can raise taxes.
If there is a heavy snow, it could take days to clean off the tracks.

Some advantages of a trolley are:

They can hold many passengers.
They can travel faster than horse-drawn carriages.
They don’t cause a mess in the city.
They have a smooth ride on the tracks.
They can’t tip over very easily on a track.

Today’s buses have many advantages over past methods of mass transportation, some are:

The routes the buses take can be changed depending on road conditions, road construction, or if the population changes.
Compared to owning and operating a car, buses can be very cost effective. Buses can save over 200 gallons of gas a year.
Buses are better for the environment than everyone driving cars; they cut down on harmful emissions by approximately 90%.
Buses can be used for school fieldtrips, and they take students to and from school.
Buses are handicapped accessible. They lower for people in wheelchairs or for people who cannot step up easily.
The bus is very safe because it has seats that have handles on the sides to hold onto, and they are very large.
Buses are convenient because they are always running, and they have a schedule that people can learn so they know when the bus will arrive.

Unfortunately though, there are also some disadvantages:

You have to wait outside for a bus to come, even if it is raining, snowing, or very hot.
Many school buses are very old and emit harmful levels of diesel pollution.
Buses don’t have seat belts or ways to fasten in baby carriers.

Citations

Books

Cavin, Ruth. Trolleys – Riding and Remembering the Electric Interurban Railways. New York: Hawthorn Books, Inc., 1976.

Fischler, Stanley I. Moving Millions. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1979.

Motavalli, Jim. Breaking Gridlock. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 2001.

Electronic Media and Websites

“Bus-Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.” Wikipedia. 28 December 2004 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bus>.

“Buses!” 28 December 2004 <http://pardo.net/bus-0035/buses.html>.

“Protect Kids. Clean Up Diesel School Buses!” American Lung Association. 28 December 2004 <http://lungaction.org/alert-description.tcl?alert_id=2016187>.

“Ride Guide.” MCTS Interactive Ride Guide. 02 January 2005 <http://rideguide.ridemcts.com/main.asp?id=5>.

Image Permissions

All photographs of buses on this page are copyrighted and cannot be used without the permission of the owners (owners listed beneath each picture). Email permissions were received for each picture.

Copyrighted clip art and animations from "Microsoft Office Online" <http://office.microsoft.com/clipart/default.aspx?lc=en-us&cag=1> (October-March, 2004-2005). Clip art available only to licensed users for non-commercial purposes.