Airport bus
Encyclopedia
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
or coach
Coach (vehicle)
A coach is a large motor vehicle, a type of bus, used for conveying passengers on excursions and on longer distance express coach scheduled transport between cities - or even between countries...
used to transport people to/from, or within airport
Airport
An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...
s. These vehicles will usually be equipped with larger luggage space, and incorporate special branding.
Airport buses have been in use since the 1960s, when nationalised operator British European Airways
British European Airways
British European Airways or British European Airways Corporation was a British airline which existed from 1946 until 1974. The airline operated European and North African routes from airports around the United Kingdom...
employed the archetypal London red Routemaster
Routemaster
The AEC Routemaster is a model of double-decker bus that was built by Associated Equipment Company in 1954 and produced until 1968. Primarily front-engined, rear open-platform buses, a small number of variants were produced with doors and/or front entrances...
buses in a blue and white livery with luggage trailers on service to Heathrow Airport.
There are several types of airport bus operation:
On airport transfer
Bus transport within an airport may take the following forms, and be operated by the airport owner, an airline, or a contractor to either.Airside transfer
Airport terminal
An airport terminal is a building at an airport where passengers transfer between ground transportation and the facilities that allow them to board and disembark from aircraft....
arrival or departure gate
Gate (airport)
A gate in aviation is a long, movable, "bridge" that allows passengers to embark and disembark their aircraft.* Jetway bridges* Air stairs, either built into the aircraft or from a mobile vehicle* Mobile lounges...
to the aircraft
Aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...
using an airside transfer bus or apron bus.
Airside transfer buses can be of normal bus design, or due to not running on the public highway, can be extra long and wide, to hold the maximum number of passengers. Sometimes a trailer bus
Trailer bus
A trailer bus or articulated trailer bus is a bus formed out of a bus bodied semi-trailer pulled by a conventional tractor unit in the same way as a conventional articulated semi-trailer truck....
is employed. Transfer buses are usually fitted with minimal or no seating, with passengers standing for the journey. Transfer buses will usually be fitted with flashing beacons for operating airside near runways. They may also feature driving cabs at both ends.
Terminal transfer
People mover
A people mover or automated people mover is a fully automated, grade-separated mass transit system.The term is generally used only to describe systems serving relatively small areas such as airports, downtown districts or theme parks, but is sometimes applied to considerably more complex automated...
or other transfer alternative, a zero-fare transfer bus may be employed to transfer connecting passengers from one terminal to another. Terminal transfer may also be incorporated into public transport bus networks.
Car park transfer
In cases where the airport owned or affiliated car parks are large or relatively far from the terminal building, the airport owner or contractor may provide free car park shuttle buses making circular or shuttle runs between terminals and car park bus stands.Off airport transfer
Third party companies offering services to airline passengers may also operate buses as part of their business, with pick-up and drop off points near the airport terminal, and extra luggage space. These usually comprise:- Off airport car parking services. These car park providers provide cheap car-parking some distance from the airport, by transferring passengers in shuttle buses. These can be anywhere from luxury coachesCoach (vehicle)A coach is a large motor vehicle, a type of bus, used for conveying passengers on excursions and on longer distance express coach scheduled transport between cities - or even between countries...
, full size buses or minibusMinibusA minibus or minicoach 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, the word "minibus" is used to describe any full-sized passenger carrying van. Minibuses have a...
es, sometimes fitted with luggage trailers. - Car rentalCar rentalA car rental or car hire agency is a company that rents automobiles for short periods of time for a fee...
companies. Often, car rental providers will have their vehicles stored off-site, and transfer customers in regular buses.
Public bus services
Public transport
Public transport is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.Public transport modes include buses, trolleybuses, trams...
operations may include airport focused services, such as:
Intermodal shuttle buses
Some transport companies may provide shuttle buses between railway stations and airports, with transit busTransit bus
A transit bus , also known as a commuter bus, city bus, or public bus, is a bus used for short-distance public transport purposes...
es fitted for extra luggage space. These are sometimes supported financially by the airport or railway company. Durham Tees Valley Airport
Durham Tees Valley Airport
Durham Tees Valley Airport is an international airport in north east England, located southeast of Darlington, about southwest of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. The airport serves County Durham and parts of North Yorkshire, and is in Middleton St George in the borough of Darlington...
contracted Arriva North East
Arriva North East
Arriva North East is a division of the transport group Arriva. It is a major provider of bus services around north east England, alongside Stagecoach North East, and Go North East...
bus company to provide a free
Zero-fare public transport
Free public transport, also often called free public transit or zero-fare public transport, is a single or network of transport services funded in full by means other than collecting a full fare from passengers. It may be funded by national, regional or local government through taxation or by...
shuttle bus for airport passengers. Railway operator First Capital Connect
First Capital Connect
First Capital Connect is a passenger train operating company in England that began operations on the National Rail network on 1 April 2006...
operates a fare paying shuttle bus from Luton Airport Parkway railway station
Luton Airport Parkway railway station
| Luton Airport Parkway railway station is the railway station for London Luton Airport in Bedfordshire, England. The station opened in 1999 and is located south-east of Luton and west of the airport....
to Luton Airport using articulated
Articulated buses in the United Kingdom
Articulated buses were rarely used in the United Kingdom compared to other countries, until the turn of the millennium. This was historically due to the UK preference for the double-decker bus for use on high capacity routes. As of June 2006, there were over 500 articulated buses in the UK,...
Wright StreetCar
Wright StreetCar
The Wright StreetCar is an articulated bus developed by Wrightbus and Volvo Buses for FirstGroup. It consists of an adapted Volvo B7LA chassis, featuring a separate driver compartment at the front, resembling to some extent similar designs in continental Europe.They feature air-conditioning and a...
vehicles.
Premium airlink services
Transit bus
A transit bus , also known as a commuter bus, city bus, or public bus, is a bus used for short-distance public transport purposes...
services may often operate a premium fare route to an airport alongside their standard routes, using specially branded vehicles with extra luggage space. These routes are usually limited stop, rather than point to point shuttle buses
Public transport
Public transport is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.Public transport modes include buses, trolleybuses, trams...
.
Newly privatised London Buses
Privatisation of London bus services
The privatisation of London bus services was the progressive process of the transfer of operation of London Buses from public bodies to private companies....
operated an Airbus service from Victoria Coach Station
Victoria Coach Station
Victoria Coach Station is the largest and most significant coach station in London. It serves long distance coach services and is also the departure point for many countryside coach tours originating from London. It should not be confused with the nearby Green Line Coach Station serving Green Line...
to Heathrow Airport in the 1990s, although this was withdrawn after London Underground
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
and Heathrow Express
Heathrow Express
Heathrow Express is an airport rail link from London Heathrow Airport to London Paddington station in London operated by the Heathrow Express Operating Authority, a wholly owned subsidiary of BAA. It was opened by the then Prime Minister Tony Blair in 1998...
rail links were improved.
Demand responsive shuttle buses
Some public bus operators have moved into the demand responsive transportDemand responsive transport
Demand Responsive Transport or Demand-Responsive Transit or Demand Responsive Service or Dial-a-ride or Flexible Transport Services is "an advanced, user-oriented form of public transport characterised by flexible routing and scheduling of small/medium vehicles operating in shared-ride mode...
sector, bridging the gap between premium fixed route bus services and private hire airport taxicab
Taxicab
A taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...
s, incorporating an area in which the service can vary its route to pick up pre-booked passengers. Unlike private hire firms, these are still legally public buses. Examples include dot2dot
National Express Dot2Dot
National Express Dot2Dot Limited was a demand responsive airport bus service and company operating in London, United Kingdom. It started operations on 1 November 2007, after National Express Group rebranded the Hotelink business it acquired in 2007....
from National Express Group
National Express Group
National Express Group plc is a British transport group headquartered in Birmingham that operates bus, coach, rail and tram services in the UK, the US and Canada, Spain, Portugal and Morocco and long-distance coach routes across Europe...
, and the Edinburgh Shuttle operated by Lothian Buses
Lothian Buses
Lothian Buses Plc is the only municipal bus company in Scotland and the largest provider of bus services in Edinburgh, Scotland. City of Edinburgh Council own 91.01% of the company with the remainder being owned by East Lothian and Midlothian councils. As well as serving Edinburgh, Lothian Buses...
, which feature high specification minibus
Minibus
A minibus or minicoach 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, the word "minibus" is used to describe any full-sized passenger carrying van. Minibuses have a...
based vehicles with luggage space.
Express services
A specialist express bus operation is that of the likes of easyBus
EasyBus
EasyBus provides UK express coach services to and from London and its main airports. It was founded by entrepreneur Stelios Haji-Ioannou in 2003, and is part of the EasyGroup...
, that runs minibus
Minibus
A minibus or minicoach 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, the word "minibus" is used to describe any full-sized passenger carrying van. Minibuses have a...
services from stops in London direct to Luton Airport.
Terminal transfer
In the case where different airport terminals are far apart and not linked by other modes, public bus operators may choose to provide a route to link the two terminals, either as a point to point shuttle or as part of a standard route network. A specialist example being the Crawley FastwayCrawley Fastway
Fastway is a bus rapid transit network linking Crawley with Gatwick Airport and Horley, the first to be constructed outside a major city. It uses specially adapted buses that can either be steered by the driver or operate as "self steering" guided buses along a specially constructed track...
, which is a bus rapid transit
Bus rapid transit
Bus rapid transit is a term applied to a variety of public transportation systems using buses to provide faster, more efficient service than an ordinary bus line. Often this is achieved by making improvements to existing infrastructure, vehicles and scheduling...
scheme which at the heart of its route network links the North and South terminals of Gatwick Airport.
Railair
RailAirRailAir
RailAir, Railair or Rail Air describes a number of airport bus and coach services designed to connect the National Rail network to airports in the United Kingdom. Services are currently concentrated on London Heathrow Airport, with one other from London Luton Airport...
, or Railair, services are designed to connect railway stations to airports, where there is no direct train link.
Standard bus services
In addition to the specially equipped or liveried buses that serve airports, several non-specific bus services may also call at airports. These are often scheduled outside normal operating hours to serve the airport workers and passengers with unsociable flight times as well as normal passengers.Private hire
Several private hire airport transfer companies, or airport focused taxicabTaxicab
A taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...
operators, also use minibus
Minibus
A minibus or minicoach 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, the word "minibus" is used to describe any full-sized passenger carrying van. Minibuses have a...
es, to varying specifications, for transporting groups of people.
External links
- Images of Apron buses
- http://swanswell.fotopic.net/p46205212.htmlImage of New Jersey TransitNew Jersey TransitThe New Jersey Transit Corporation is a statewide public transportation system serving the United States state of New Jersey, and New York, Orange, and Rockland counties in New York State...
Airport Express bus] - Interior view of luggage space in a Newark airport bus