A single-decker bus or single-decker is a

bus 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 ...

that has a single deck for passengers. Normally the use of the term ''single-decker'' refers to a standard two- axled

rigid bus A rigid bus (either a motor bus or trolleybus) is a vehicle used in public transportation services with a single, rigid chassis. A bus of this type is to be contrasted with an articulated or bi-articulated bus, which will have two or more rigid ...

, in direct contrast to the use of the term

double-decker bus A double-decker bus or double-deck bus is a bus that has two storeys or decks. They are used for mass transport in the United Kingdom, the United States, New Zealand, Europe, Asia and also in cities such as Sydney; the best-known example is the ...

, which is essentially a bus with two passenger decks and a staircase. These types of single-deckers may feature one or more doors, and varying

internal combustion engine An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal c ...

positions. In regions where double-deckers are not common, the term ''single-decker'' may lack common usage, as in one sense, all other main types of bus have a single deck. Also, the term may become synonymous with the name

transit bus Transit may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Transit'' (1979 film), a 1979 Israeli film * ''Transit'' (2005 film), a film produced by MTV and Staying-Alive about four people in countries in the world * ''Transit'' (2006 film), a 2006 ...

or related terms, which can correctly be applied to double-deckers too. With the exception of regions of major double deck or articulated bus operation, usually

urban area An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities ...

s, the single decker is the standard mode of

public transport Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typi ...

bus travel, increasingly with

low floor Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" (i. ...

features. With their origins in van chassis,

minibus A minibus, microbus, minicoach, or commuter (in Zimbabwe) is a passenger-carrying motor vehicle that is designed to carry more people than a multi-purpose vehicle or minivan, but fewer people than a full-size bus. In the United Kingdom, ...

es are not usually considered ''single-deckers'', although modern minibus designs blur this distinction.

Midibus A midibus is a classification of single-decker minibuses which are generally larger than a traditional minibus but smaller than a full-size single decker and can be anywhere between and long. While used in many parts of the world, the mi ...

es can also be regarded as both included with and separate from standard single-deckers, in terms of ''full size'' length and vehicle weights, although again design developments have seen this distinction blurred. Some coach style buses that do not have underfloor luggage space can also be correctly termed as single-deckers, with some sharing standard bus chassis designs, such as the

Volvo B10M The Volvo B10M was a mid-engined city bus and coach chassis manufactured by Volvo between 1978 and 2003. It succeeded the B58 and was equipped with the same 9.6-litre horizontally mounted Volvo diesel engine mounted under the floor behind the ...

, with a different body style applied. First Hampshire & Dorset 69398

Examples of single-decker buses (excluding coaches, trolleybuses, midibuses and minibuses)

* Alexander Dennis Enviro200 * Alexander Dennis Enviro300 *

Alexander Dennis Enviro350H The Alexander Dennis Enviro350H was a hybrid-electric powered single-decker bus manufactured by Alexander Dennis between 2010 and 2013.DAC 112UDM *

DAF SB220 The DAF SB220 was a full-size single-decker bus chassis produced by DAF Bus International from 1985. Initially only built in left hand drive, in 1988 a right hand drive version was launched for the United Kingdom market. An articulated vers ...

Dennis Dart The Dennis Dart is a rear-engined single-decker midibus chassis that was introduced by Dennis Specialist Vehicles of Guildford, England in 1989, replacing the Dennis Domino. Initially built as a high-floor design, In 1996 the low-floor seco ...

Dennis Falcon The Dennis Falcon was a rear-engined single-decker bus, double-decker bus and coach chassis manufactured by Dennis between 1981 and 1993. It was mostly built as a single-decker bus, although some express coaches and a small number of double-dec ...

* Dennis Lance/Lance SLF *

Ikarus 260 The Ikarus 260 is a high-floor, three-door bus for city and suburban transportation purposes. It was made from 1971 to as long as 2002 by the Hungarian bus manufacturer Ikarus, making it the longest manufactured, largest quantity model of the f ...

* Irisbus Agoraline *

Irisbus Citelis The Irisbus Citelis is a low-floor city bus produced by Irisbus from 2005 to 2013 when it was replaced in production by Iveco Bus Urbanway. Production and operation It was introduced in 2005 to replace the Agora. It comes in three varieties ...

Iveco TurboCity The Iveco TurboCity is a class of Italian single-decker buses built between 1989 and 1996 by Iveco. Replacing the Effeuno, they consisted of three variants with different internal arrangement: Iveco 480 for urban services, Iveco 580 for suburb ...

* Iveco Urbanway *

MAN NL262 MAN NL262 (A27) is a low-floor single-decker bus made by MAN from 1992 to 1998. Although predominantly produced for Hong Kong in right-hand drive operated by Citybus, some were made in left-hand drive for the mainland European market, it was s ...

MAN NLxx3F The MAN NLxx3F is a series of low-floor single-decker city bus chassis between 10.5 to 12.0 metres length, offered by MAN since 1998, with internal code ''A22''. They are based on the integral low-floor MAN NLxx3 Lion's City (A21). Available ver ...

* MAZ-103 * MAZ-203 *

Mercedes-Benz Citaro The Mercedes-Benz Citaro is a single-decker, rigid or articulated bus manufactured by Mercedes-Benz/ EvoBus. Introduced in 1997, the Citaro is available in a range of configurations, and is in widespread use throughout Europe and parts of Asia ...

Mercedes-Benz O305 The Mercedes-Benz O305 was a single deck, double deck and articulated bus manufactured by Mercedes-Benz in Mannheim, West Germany from 1968 until 1988. It was built as either a complete bus or a bus chassis and was the Mercedes-Benz adaptatio ...

Mercedes-Benz O405 The Mercedes-Benz O405 was a single-decker bus manufactured by Mercedes-Benz from the mid-1980s to the early 2000s as either an integral bus or a bus chassis and was the last VöV SL-II standard bus in production. It was the replacement for th ...

* Mercedes-Benz O500M/U * Mercedes-Benz OC 500 LE * Mercedes-Benz OF-OH *

Optare Excel The Optare Excel was a low-floor full-size single-decker bus manufactured by Optare. Manufactured as an integral bus, the Excel was launched in 1995 as one of the first low floor single-deck vehicles, replacing the step-entrance Optare Sigma. T ...

Optare Tempo The Optare Tempo is an integral low-floor, full-size rigid single-deck bus manufactured by Optare and was launched in late 2004. It is marketed and sold as the replacement for the Optare Excel. It is designed as a lightweight bus, to use less ...

* Optare Tempo SR *

Renault PR100.2 The Renault PR100 was a French full-size step-entrance single-decker bus chassis built and marketed originally by Berliet from 1971, and sold as a Renault following the merging of Berliet into Renault Véhicules Industriels. The PR100 was inte ...

Rocar Rocar (also T.V. or Autobuzul) was a van, light truck, bus and trolleybus manufacturer based in Bucharest, Romania. The firm also produced light offroad vehicles and later heavy road vehicles. During its existence, the company produced over 350,00 ...

Autodromo 812U * Rocar De Simon U412 * Scania Citywide *

Scania K UB The Scania K series is a series of chassis in Scania's city bus and coach range with longitudinally, straight-up mounted engine at the rear, replacing the K- ( K94, K114, K124) and L-type ( L94) chassis of the 4 series. The K series was f ...

Scania L113 The Scania L113 was a step entrance and low entry single-decker bus chassis manufactured by Scania in Sweden between 1989 and 1998. It is a low entry compartment to the low floor N113. Design The L113 was largely a cross between the N113 and ...

Scania L94UB The Scania 4-series low floor city bus and coach range was introduced by Scania in 1997 as a successor to the 3-series bus range. The 4-series bus range was first presented in September 1996, when the integral low-floor city bus OmniCity was ...

* Scania N UB *

Scania N113 The Scania N113 was a transverse-engined step-entrance and low-floor city bus chassis manufactured by Scania between 1988 and 2000. History The Scania N113 was designed as a successor to the N112. Most of the single-decker buses and the ...

* Scania N94UB *

Scania OmniCity The Scania OmniCity is an integrally constructed transverse-engined low floor city bus that was available from Scania on the European market between 1997 and 2012. The OmniCity was introduced in September 1996 as the first product based on t ...

Solaris Urbino 12 Solaris Urbino 12 is a series of 12.0-metre low-floor buses from the Solaris Urbino series designed for public transport, produced since 1999 by the Polish company Solaris Bus & Coach in Bolechowo near Poznań in Poland. Since 2010 a hybrid vers ...

* Thaco TB120CT * VDL SB200 * VDL SB250 *

Volvo B7RLE The Volvo B7RLE is a low-entry single-deck bus chassis manufactured by Volvo. It was superseded by the Volvo B8RLE in 2013. Specifications The Volvo B7RLE is similar to its predecessor, the B10BLE. In essence the B7RLE is the front section of t ...

Volvo B10B The Volvo B10B was a rear-engined step deck single-decker bus chassis manufactured by Volvo between 1992 and 2001. The first prototype were built in 1990, but the B10B wasn't launched until the 1992 Geneva Motor Show. It superseded the Leyland ...

Volvo B10BLE The Volvo B10BLE was a rear-engined low-entry single-decker bus chassis manufactured by Volvo in Sweden between 1993 and 2004. The first prototypes were built in 1992, but mass production started in 1993, only a year after the high-floor B10B. I ...

Volvo B12BLE The Volvo B12BLE is a low-entry city and suburban bus chassis launched in 2001 with a rear-mounted transverse engine. It superseded the Volvo B10BLE and is used as a base for single-decker buses in Europe and Australia. The B12BLE features t ...

Optare Solo The Optare Solo is a low-floor minibus/midibus with one or two doors manufactured by Optare in the United Kingdom since 1998. The Solo name is a play on its low-floor status, the manufacturer marketing its vehicle as having an entrance that is ...

* Optare Solo SR * Optare Solo Plus *

Optare Versa The Optare Versa is a low-floor midibus that was manufactured by Optare at its Sherburn-in-Elmet factory. In total 883 were produced between 2007 and 2018.Optare Primsa

References

External links

{{Buses Buses by type

Examples of single-decker buses (excluding coaches, trolleybuses, midibuses and minibuses)

See also

References

External links