Customised buses - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Customised buses are bus

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...

es that have been modified for decorative

Interior design

Interior design describes a group of various yet related projects that involve turning an interior space into an effective setting for the range of human activities are to take place there. An interior designer is someone who conducts such projects...

purposes. The customisation is unrelated to performing their job or work, usually as public transport

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...

buses. Customised buses are also sometimes not used for a job or work, and are decorated as personal projects for exhibition, although this is rare compared to other types of art vehicle such as cars

Art car

An art car is a vehicle that has had its appearance modified as an act of personal artistic expression. Art cars are often driven and owned by their creators, who are sometimes referred to as "Cartists"....

, bikes

Art bike

An art bike is any bicycle modified for creative purposes while still being ridable. It is a type of kinetic sculpture. The degree of artistic creativity and originality or new functionality of art bikes varies greatly, depending on the artist or designer's intentions .-Examples:* The annual...

and customised trucks.

Customisation detail

The customisation usually involves:

Custom exterior and interior paint schemes
Livery
A livery is a uniform, insignia or symbol adorning, in a non-military context, a person, an object or a vehicle that denotes a relationship between the wearer of the livery and an individual or corporate body. Often, elements of the heraldry relating to the individual or corporate body feature in...

, including phrases and proverbs and people, such as religious icon
Icon
An icon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity and in certain Eastern Catholic churches...

s.
Extra decorative visual elements, such as extra lights and reflectors, flags, banners and bunting or religious symbols and artefacts.
Modified body parts
Coachwork
Coachwork is the body of a horse-drawn coach or carriage, a motor vehicle , a railroad car or railway carriage. Usually reserved for bodies built on a separate chassis, rather than being of unitary or monocoque construction...

such more elaborate grille
Grille
A grille or grill is an opening of several slits side by side in a wall or metal sheet or other barrier, usually to let air or water enter and/or leave but keep larger objects including people and animals in or out.-Spelling:In the United States, "grille" is used to differentiate the automotive...

s, wheel
Wheel
A wheel is a device that allows heavy objects to be moved easily through rotating on an axle through its center, facilitating movement or transportation while supporting a load, or performing labor in machines. Common examples found in transport applications. A wheel, together with an axle,...

arches, exhaust
Exhaust system
An exhaust system is usually tubing used to guide reaction exhaust gases away from a controlled combustion inside an engine or stove. The entire system conveys burnt gases from the engine and includes one or more exhaust pipes...

s

Incidences of customisation

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

has a long tradition of highly customising buses (and truck

Truck

A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, with the smallest being mechanically similar to an automobile...

s). The Chiva Buses

Chiva Buses

Rustic buses are old artisan modified buses used in rural Colombia and Ecuador where they are known as chivas or escaleras . They are used as public transport and more recently used as party buses in both countries...

of Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

are hand-built on truck chassis

Chassis

A chassis consists of an internal framework that supports a man-made object. It is analogous to an animal's skeleton. An example of a chassis is the underpart of a motor vehicle, consisting of the frame with the wheels and machinery.- Vehicles :In the case of vehicles, the term chassis means the...

, used as both public transport and for private hire for parties, including as a novelty attraction in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. The jeep derived Jeepney

Jeepney

Jeepneys are the most popular means of public transportation in the Philippines. They were originally made from US military jeeps left over from World War II and are known for their flamboyant decoration and crowded seating...

share taxi

Share taxi

A share taxi is a mode of transport that falls between taxis and conventional buses. These informal vehicles for hire are found throughout the world. They are smaller than buses, and usually take passengers on a fixed or semi-fixed route without timetables, usually leaving when all seats are filled...

s of the Philippines have grown in capacity to the size of 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 and are still being built by small scale manufacturers, although are facing calls for their reduction in number and competition with regular public transport. The Colectivo

Colectivo

Colectivo is the name given in Argentina and Paraguay to a type of public transportation vehicles, especially those of Argentina's capital city, Buenos Aires...

(urban bus) of Argentina, particularly Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

were historically highly customised, dating back to the 1920s. The practice of customisation continued until the adoption of more modern public transport buses which saw the practice fade out. Historic customised Colectivos are now prized museum exhibits, or have been restored as private vehicles. The island of Malta

Malta

Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

has had a long tradition of customising their buses

Malta bus

A Malta bus was both the bus used for public transport on the Mediterranean island of Malta, and also a major tourist attraction on the island, due to their unique appearance grounded in the bus ownership and operation model employed on Malta...

used for public transport, due to the variety of models imported, and the small nature of garage facilities. The customisation in Malta is understated compared to other countries. In the 2000s a drive was initiated to update the fleet with more modern buses, but historic examples remain, and the tradition of customisation has continued for the modern models.

Other types of customised buses

Advert buses, party bus

Party bus

A party bus is a large motor vehicle usually derived from a conventional bus or coach, but modified and designed to carry 10 or more people purely for recreational purposes generally involving some kind of celebration, such as a birthday or graduation...

es, sleeper bus

Sleeper bus

A sleeper bus is a type of specially adapted coach, often used to transport bands and their technicians and road crew between cities and shows....

es and tour bus

Tour bus

A tour bus service is a bus service that takes visitors sightseeing, with routes around tourist attractions. Double-decker buses and/or open top buses are commonly used, for their good views....

es are all types of buses that may feature a degree of decorative customisation as part of their primary function, and not just for personalisation.

Customisation detail

Incidences of customisation

Other types of customised buses

See also