The term bus or autobus is borrowed from the French word “autobus” which means a vehicle for carrying people. During the French colonial period, it was still called “xe buýt” regardless of short or long routes, but under the new regime, long-distance buses that carry both passengers and goods are called “xe khách” while short-distance buses that carry only light luggage are called “xe buýt”.
According to history, GM was the first bus brand to appear in Vietnam after World War I, around 1919. The first buses appeared in Hanoi and 4 buses picked up and dropped off passengers at the Dong Ho column near Long Bien bridge.
During the French colonial period, buses only had one door at the back. Initially, there were 2 rows of seats attached to the side of the bus similar to seats in trams and trains, with a walkway in the middle. But later on, it was found that longitudinal seats carried fewer passengers, so bus companies improved and changed them to horizontal seats that could carry more passengers, on average about 30 passengers per bus.
In 1930, there were nearly 5,000 various vehicles including 405 buses, concentrated mainly in Hanoi, and the number of buses in Hai Phong was equal to one-third of that in Hanoi.
It is believed that the first public transportation system in the world may have been in Nantes (France) in 1826 when a former official built public baths in the suburbs and established a short bus route from the city center to those baths.
Then he discovered that passengers got on and off the bus at points along the way, not just at the baths, so he came up with the idea to develop that bus route. These “voiture omnibus” were horse-drawn vehicles rented to run predetermined routes from one point to another, carrying passengers and goods. These omnibuses were characterized by long wooden benches along the sides of the vehicle and a rear entrance.
Perhaps due to direct competition or because the idea was broadcast on the radio, in 1832, this initiative was replicated in Paris, Bordeaux, and Lyons.
On July 4, 1829, a newspaper in London reported that “a new type of vehicle, called an omnibus, started running today from Paddington to the city” and this bus service in London was operated by George Shillibeer.
Afterwards, this service spread to other places and had a positive impact on society, contributing to socialization. The omnibus helped people from suburbs to come to the city center more frequently. Then electric cars appeared, becoming the rival of the omnibus and gradually becoming a more popular means of transportation than the omnibus.
Thao Anh (TTTD)
