GRALISTAIR
Established Member
Yikes- that would be too much for me - I would have to break up my journey.In the USA, it'd be New York City to Los Angeles. Route #1351 is direct and takes 68h 5m.
Yikes- that would be too much for me - I would have to break up my journey.In the USA, it'd be New York City to Los Angeles. Route #1351 is direct and takes 68h 5m.
It doesn't seem to me to make much sense that a bus can be called a bus (although even the maker sometimes refers to it as a minibus) but a so-called breadvan may actually be larger. In the same way that some Optare Solos have seatbelts with high back seats and some coaches don't.That is a breadvan which i think could be considered a different category.
Personally i see three different categories:
• buses
• coaches
• breadvans
Anything like a Mercedes Benz Sprinter or Mellor Strata or Ford Transit or Volkswagen Crafter is a breadvan.
Coaches are vehicles which are normally step entrance and have luggage space underneath or behind and have seatbelts. Although there are some low floor examples but they are still coaches.
I would consider a 7.1m Optare Solo SE M710SE to still be a proper bus. Although it is probably the smallest proper bus out there.
Although it does seem like the difference between a bus and a coach is much more blurred in other countries which i had not quite realised until now.
Here's a picture from 2015 of a Solo SE with tlc, at Hebden Bridge railway station:I would consider a 7.1m Optare Solo SE M710SE to still be a proper bus. Although it is probably the smallest proper bus out there.
I'm 45 and have been interested in public transport, not buses particularly, for as long as I can remember, but I have never, ever come across this term for a busIt doesn't seem to me to make much sense that a bus can be called a bus (although even the maker sometimes refers to it as a minibus) but a so-called breadvan may actually be larger. In the same way that some Optare Solos have seatbelts with high back seats and some coaches don't.
To put it another way it's an artificial distinction which exists mainly in the mind of the particular person making the point, and almost everyone in the Anglophone world would understand that a 'breadvan', 'coach', or 'minibus' are all examples of the umbrella term 'bus'.
I'm 45 and have been interested in public transport, not buses particularly, for as long as I can remember, but I have never, ever come across this term for a bus
Definetely the longest one in The Netherlands indeed, 110 km one way. We've had a longer route in the past (the 315 from Groningen to Lelystad was 127 km long, but has now been split into two parts).The longest local bus route in the Netherlands is probably the 350 from Alkmaar to Leeuwarden, but I think this would be classed as a coach by most British people:
Bestand:Arriva 7517, Leeuwarden busstation (9733095104).jpg - OV in Nederland Wiki
wiki.ovinnederland.nl
Apologies. Poor phrasing on my part! It's definitely not a particularly common term. But what I should have said was that nobody else would have heard the term, but thought of it as something that isn't included in the category of 'bus'.I'm 45 and have been interested in public transport, not buses particularly, for as long as I can remember, but I have never, ever come across this term for a bus
I think it has been used as a negative term in some cases yes.I'm 46 and I used to hear it a fair bit in the 80s/90s, mostly as a derogatory term for van derived minibuses, especially the smallest 16 seat ones like Sherpas and Transits.
a. A large public vehicle carrying passengers by road, running on a fixed route and typically requiring the payment of a fare; = omnibus n. 1. Also: this as a form of transport.
a. A large kind of carriage: in 16th and 17th centuries, usually a state carriage of royalty or people of quality (still occasionally used, as e.g. the Lord Mayor's coach); now, usually, a large close carriage with four wheels, with seats inside, and several outside, used for public conveyance of passengers (see stagecoach n.). Hence to take coach (obsolete).
b. With qualifications, as curtain n.1, glass n.1, hackney n. and adj., mail v.2, mourning n.1, stagecoach n.: see these; also slow-coach n., figurative. by-coach, a supplementary or extra coach, besides the usual service (cf. German Beiwagen); long coach, a coach running long stages: cf. short-stage adj. at short adj., n., and adv. Compounds 6a.
c. Sometimes used for the passengers by a coach.
d. A railway carriage: in U.S. used esp. of one that is not a sleeping car (see quots.).
e. A single-decker bus.
f. Economy or tourist class, on a passenger aircraft. Frequently attributive and as adv. U.S.
What's this vehicle?
https://www.flickr.com/photos/12707...PGikh-2iKiFbS-2hTBFZN-2gfXiSh-2geuaEM-2gbVBqX
Is it a bus or a van? I would argue it's closer to a van in physical characteristics than it is to, for example, an E200, which is commonly accepted to be a 'bus'. Is it a minibus? Well maybe, but bespoke minibuses rather than adapted from vans look pretty different generally. Is a minibus also not a bus? Or is a bus a superset of a minibus? In which case...
Consider the Stagecoach South Wales X4 which stops everywhere between Abergavenny and Merthyr Tydfil and then only Pontypridd and Cardiff. The vehicles are definitely buses.Does the bus/coach distinction really lie in what type of service it is used for? If it stops 'everywhere' it's a bus, if it does long(er) non-stop runs between towns it's a coach.
No doubt that will raise tons of other grey areas!
Oh I see... yes if shown a picture of something like that no one would argue it isn't a busApologies. Poor phrasing on my part! It's definitely not a particularly common term. But what I should have said was that nobody else would have heard the term, but thought of it as something that isn't included in the category of 'bus'.
Ticketing arrangements also tend to be different - you can pre-book coach tickets ( which, I think, will tend to be for a specific service), but not bus tickets ( which don’t!)Oh I see... yes if shown a picture of something like that no one would argue it isn't a bus
Re coach/bus: another distinction is that buses cater for standing passengers, coaches are designed for sitting passengers only. But they are still a special kind of bus, rather than a distinct category
How interesting. I don't think I've heard the term midibus before.Officially it’s a minibus. A bus this size but not based on a van platform is called a midibus.
The Enviro200 is in fact a midibus as it’s shorter than 12 metres. It’s not a very widely used term in the UK because there’s so many <12m buses running they’re actually the norm.How interesting. I don't think I've heard the term midibus before.
back in 1973 doncaster corporation took delivery of 3 seddon pennine IVs with 25 seat pennine bodies and were at the time described as midi buses. They were boxy little things but very much a purpose built small bus and not a van conversion. Their most distinctive feature was their incredibly rough sounding engine, they sounded just like a Ford D series truck which was used as the basis for the breadvans used by mother's pride etc for deliverys to local shops allover the country. The seddons were immediately nicknamed breadvans by the drivers.How interesting. I don't think I've heard the term midibus before.
When the rural 900 bus between Hebden Bridge and Huddersfield first started with 3 or 4 trips a day, you could ring the driver and reserve a seat. I was once denied boarding because a seat was reserved for a passenger who had not yet boarded.Ticketing arrangements also tend to be different - you can pre-book coach tickets ( which, I think, will tend to be for a specific service), but not bus tickets ( which don’t!)
There are lots of demand-responsive bus services, both urban and rural, where you have to pre-book.When the rural 900 bus between Hebden Bridge and Huddersfield first started with 3 or 4 trips a day, you could ring the driver and reserve a seat. I was once denied boarding because a seat was reserved for a passenger who had not yet boarded.