A fuel cell bus is a bus that uses a hydrogen fuel cell as its power source for electrically driven wheels, sometimes augmented in a hybrid fashion with batteries or a supercapacitor. The only emission from the bus is water. Several cities around the world have trialled and tested fuel cell buses, with over 5,600 buses in use worldwide, the majority of which are in China.
Foton Motor hydrogen fuel cell bus in Beijing, China in 2018
Toyota FCHV-BUS at Expo 2005 in Aichi, Japan in 2005
Hydrogen fuel cell Mercedes-Benz Citaro at Stratford, London in 2004
Hydrogen fuel cell bus in São Paulo, Brazil in 2009
A bus is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but less than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for charter purposes, or through private ownership. Although the average bus carries between 30 and 100 passengers, some buses have a capacity of up to 300 passengers. The most common type is the single-deck rigid bus, with double-decker and articulated buses carrying larger loads, and midibuses and minibuses carrying smaller loads. Coaches are used for longer-distance services. Many types of buses, such as city transit buses and inter-city coaches, charge a fare. Other types, such as elementary or secondary school buses or shuttle buses within a post-secondary education campus, are free. In many jurisdictions, bus drivers require a special large vehicle licence above and beyond a regular driving licence.
A New Routemaster double-decker bus, operating for Arriva London on London Buses route 73 (2015)
A New Flyer trolleybus operated by the Toronto Transit Commission in 1987
An early horse-drawn omnibus from mid-nineteenth century
Amédée Bollée's L'Obéissante (1875)