The Bath Bus Company is a bus operator in the United Kingdom which runs
open top tours in
Bath,
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
and
Cardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
, and the 'Bristol Air Decker' service between Bath and
Bristol Airport
Bristol Airport , at Lulsgate Bottom, on the northern slopes of the Mendip Hills, in North Somerset, is the commercial airport serving the city of Bristol, England, and the surrounding area. It is southwest of Bristol city centre. Built on ...
. The company has been a subsidiary of the French
RATP Group since 2011.
History
![Bath Pierrepoint Street - Bath Bus Company A504 (SK52USH)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/Bath_Pierrepoint_Street_-_Bath_Bus_Company_A504_%28SK52USH%29.JPG)
Bath Bus Company was formed in May 1997 by Martin Curtis and three other former
Badgerline
Badgerline was a bus operator in and around Bristol from 1985 until 2003. Its headquarters were in Weston-super-Mare. Initially a part of the Bristol Omnibus Company, it was privatised in September 1986 and sold to Badgerline Holdings in a mana ...
managers. It commenced operating
open top tours in
Bath with
Bristol VR
The Bristol VR was a rear-engined double-decker bus chassis which was manufactured by Bristol Commercial Vehicles as a competitor to the Leyland Atlantean and Daimler Fleetline.
Development
The Bristol VR was originally designed for s ...
Ts and an
AEC Routemaster
The AEC Routemaster is a Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout, front-engined double-decker bus that was designed by London Transport Executive, London Transport and built by the Associated Equipment Company (AEC) and Park Royal Vehicles. The ...
. It later diversified into the operation of tendered services. In 1999, Bath Bus Company became a
City Sightseeing
City Sightseeing is an open-top, sightseeing tour bus operator. It provides tour bus services in more than 130 cities around the world. As City Sightseeing has grown and expanded, the company now also provides boat tours, sightseeing trai ...
franchisee.
["In Focus: Bath Bus Company" '']Buses
A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...
'' issue 716 November 2014 page 81
In June 2004, the business was purchased by
Ensignbus
Ensignbus is a bus and coach operator and bus dealer based in Purfleet, Essex.
History
Ensignbus was formed in 1972 by Peter Newman, who remains involved today as chairman and his sons Ross and Steve as directors. Ensignbus commenced with ...
, who transferred its existing City Sightseeing operations in
Cardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
,
Eastbourne
Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...
and
Windsor
Windsor may refer to:
Places Australia
* Windsor, New South Wales
** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area
* Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland
**Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...
to become part of Bath Bus Company. In February 2011, the business was purchased by
RATP Dev RATP may refer to:
Transportation:
* RATP Group, or ', a public transport operator based in Paris, France
* RATP Iași (), a transit operator responsible for public transportation in Iași, Romania
* RATP Ploiești (), a transit operator respon ...
, the overseas division of RATP Group.
[
A service was started in March 2013 that linked Bath with ]Bristol Airport
Bristol Airport , at Lulsgate Bottom, on the northern slopes of the Mendip Hills, in North Somerset, is the commercial airport serving the city of Bristol, England, and the surrounding area. It is southwest of Bristol city centre. Built on ...
and branded 'Air Decker'. It offered through ticketing with Abus
ABUS August Bremicker Söhne KG, commonly known as ABUS, is a German manufacturer of preventative security technology based in Wetter, North Rhine-Westphalia. Its name is an acronym of its original name, August Bremicker und Söhne ("August Bre ...
services in the Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
area. On 21 November 2014, the company began a short-term service between Bristol and Bath using the country's first bus powered entirely by human and food waste
Food loss and waste is food that is not eaten. The causes of food waste or loss are numerous and occur throughout the food system, during production, processing, distribution, retail and food service sales, and consumption. Overall, about o ...
. The biomethane
Renewable natural gas (RNG), also known as sustainable natural gas (SNG) or biomethane, is a biogas which has been upgraded to a quality similar to fossil natural gas and having a methane concentration of 90% or greater. By increasing the concentr ...
gas is generated at Bristol sewage treatment works in Avonmouth
Avonmouth is a port and outer suburb of Bristol, England, facing two rivers: the reinforced north bank of the final stage of the Avon which rises at sources in Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Somerset; and the eastern shore of the Severn Estuar ...
, which is run by GENeco, a subsidiary of Wessex Water
Wessex Water Services Limited, known as Wessex Water, is a water supply and sewerage utility company serving an area of South West England, covering 10,000 square kilometres including Bristol, most of Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire and parts of ...
. The introduction of Bath's Clean Air Zone
A Clean Air Zone (CAZ) is an area in the United Kingdom where targeted action is taken to improve air quality. A CAZ can be non-charging or charging.
Whether a vehicle is charged when entering or moving through a CAZ depends on the type of vehicl ...
in March 2021 caused the Bath Bus Company to invest heavily in new buses for its services.
The Bath Bus Company introduced a new tour in nearby Bristol on 17 May 2021 which was branded TOOTbus. Bristol tours had been operated by Rubicon Tours from 1994 until 2020. The TOOTbus brand would also appear later that year on some tours in Bath but others would retain the more familiar City Sightseeing
City Sightseeing is an open-top, sightseeing tour bus operator. It provides tour bus services in more than 130 cities around the world. As City Sightseeing has grown and expanded, the company now also provides boat tours, sightseeing trai ...
branding.
Services
As well as open top bus tours in Bath, Bristol and Cardiff, the Bath Bus Company operates a service from Bath to Bristol Airport
Bristol Airport , at Lulsgate Bottom, on the northern slopes of the Mendip Hills, in North Somerset, is the commercial airport serving the city of Bristol, England, and the surrounding area. It is southwest of Bristol city centre. Built on ...
branded as 'Air Decker'.
Fleet
The fleet consisted of 36 buses in October 2014.[
]
References
External links
* Official websites:
Air Decker
City Sightseeing Bath
TootBus Bath
{{RATP Group
Bus operators in East Sussex
Bus transport in Cardiff
City Sightseeing
RATP Group
Transport in Bath, Somerset
Transport in Berkshire
1997 establishments in England