Until the 1990s smoking was usually allowed on the top decks of double decker buses (often restricted to the rearmost seats by about the 1970s or '80s, but in practice this rule was often ignored) and in the rearmost seats on single decker buses and coaches.
I think London buses went fully non-smoking in about 1990 or 1991. I think the ban took effect on Valentine's Day that year, and they had a publicity campaign with heart-shaped no smoking signs to announce the ban.
I also seem to recall that London single deckers were already completely non-smoking in the 1970s and '80s (although I don't think London had many single deck routes in those days) and that already in the 1980s Greater Manchester buses had "Please do not smoke" signs at both ends of the top deck (although it may have been more of a courtesy thing than an actual byelaw or condition of carriage back then).
On the other hand, I can remember seeing a Nottingham City Transport bus in about 2000 that still had a sign announcing that NCT was going fully non-smoking from 1st January 1993. This would suggest that NCT may have been one of the last bus operators in the UK to do so.
I also seem to recall still seeing passengers smoking in the rear seats on route 140 in Derbyshire (Alfreton to Matlock) in about 1992. Not sure who the operator was at that time: at the start of deregulation it was Maun, then it was Mansfield & District for a short while, then I think it was Whites of Calver for a time, and for most of the 1990s and early 2000s it was Stagecoach East Midland.
Apart from London single deckers and (at least unofficially) Greater Manchester buses, can anyone remember any operators that were already completely non-smoking in the 1980s or earlier, or that still allowed smoking later than about 1993?
I think London buses went fully non-smoking in about 1990 or 1991. I think the ban took effect on Valentine's Day that year, and they had a publicity campaign with heart-shaped no smoking signs to announce the ban.
I also seem to recall that London single deckers were already completely non-smoking in the 1970s and '80s (although I don't think London had many single deck routes in those days) and that already in the 1980s Greater Manchester buses had "Please do not smoke" signs at both ends of the top deck (although it may have been more of a courtesy thing than an actual byelaw or condition of carriage back then).
On the other hand, I can remember seeing a Nottingham City Transport bus in about 2000 that still had a sign announcing that NCT was going fully non-smoking from 1st January 1993. This would suggest that NCT may have been one of the last bus operators in the UK to do so.
I also seem to recall still seeing passengers smoking in the rear seats on route 140 in Derbyshire (Alfreton to Matlock) in about 1992. Not sure who the operator was at that time: at the start of deregulation it was Maun, then it was Mansfield & District for a short while, then I think it was Whites of Calver for a time, and for most of the 1990s and early 2000s it was Stagecoach East Midland.
Apart from London single deckers and (at least unofficially) Greater Manchester buses, can anyone remember any operators that were already completely non-smoking in the 1980s or earlier, or that still allowed smoking later than about 1993?