There was a very real sense of local pride with fleetnames. Frequently they stayed unchanged through generations, with trams, trolleybuses, petrol and diesel buses each in turn sporting their truly local identity. Then came the Eighties, heralding in unfettered competition, privatisation and the ending of civic transport provision.
Today we have ubiquity from one side of the globe to the other. Stripes are for shareholders, not customers. Today's titles are evocations of carriage travel from the horse drawn era, of platforms for arrivals and departures, and of a time when the first shall be .... well, it's not what it used to be........

It is essential that you have a ticket with which to travel on a British bus. Normally they are sold on the vehicle, but increasingly they are being sold in advance of travel as companiesseek to guarantee income, and speed up services.
Here ios a small selection of some that have survived from the past.

The area of mystery for most customers was the depot. In the old days it was the black, greasy hole, dank, damp, and steamy, with an overwhelming smell of diesel, fumes and (to a lesser extent) oil.
In the later years of the National Bus Company it radically improved: sunken (dry) baths were created, over which the buses were driven. And the grease monkeys were able to stay in thedepths of the pit for their whole working life (if that was what they wished) thanks to interconnecting walkways, air drives, exhaust pipes, rolling roads, computers and a plethora of other goodies that still failed to keep the wheels rolling all the time....

A seldom-photographed area that was vital to the well-being ofbuscompany revenues - and customer satisfaction - was the booking office where you could get everything from an advanced ticket to a package holiday, a leaflet or leave your luggage, pick up a parcel, or find lost property.