††††The omnibus, a horse-drawn passenger vehicle, was developed in 1819 by George Shillibeer. Regular bus services began to operate in France and the name was soon shortened to "bus".
The idea spread to London in 1829, and New York introduced its own version in the 1830s, developing the horse-drawn tram, which ran on a network of rails sunk into the roads.
In 1831 Walter Hancock developed a steam-powered vehicle which travelled between London and Stratford and had only ten seats. By comparison modern buses are powered by diesel engines, or more rarely, by electric motors, and can carry up to 70 passengers.
