Is there a difference to you between a coach and a bus?

Poll

Is there a difference to you between a coach and a bus?

For me there's always been a big difference, a bus is a bus and a coach is a coach. However some of my friends call a coach a bus and don't seem to differentiate much between them.

To me this is a coach:

Spoiler

And this is a bus:

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For some reason it really gets to me when people confuse the two :rolleyes:

for example if someone says "I'm going to Edinburgh by bus" when they mean it's by coach. It's like calling a lorry a van.

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Reply 1

Uniiverse

Original post by ameritus

Spoiler

And this is a bus:

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For some reason it really gets to me when people confuse the two :rolleyes:

for example if someone says "I'm going to Edinburgh by bus" when they mean it's by coach. It's like calling a lorry a van.

I know what you mean OP, I visualize a coach and bus exactly like the pictures you posted. And it doesn't really bother me if people mix it up, but I always imagine a coach to be 'posher' than a bus... :P

Reply 2

This Excellency

Original post by ameritus

For me there's
always been a big difference, a bus is a bus and a
coach is a coach.

Terrific reasoning.

I would say that a coach is long distance - city to city. Whereas a bus is quite local - town to town.

Reply 3

placenta medicae talpae

Yes.

To me, a coach is a vehicle which does either or more usually both of the following:
Operates a "limited stop" service only to certain defined locations many miles apart, and is usually identified by stopping places, rather than by service number, which are given as names of towns/cities/regions, rather than names of roads or individual stops.
Is designed to be driven constantly on motorways and suchlike, without layover, for many hours, can store luggage, and does not frequently use facilities to issue tickets or collect cash fares.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 4

ameritus

Original post by This Excellency

Terrific reasoning.

I would say that a coach is long distance - city to city. Whereas a bus is quite local - town to town.

Haha sorry but I was trying to say it's that simple, just like blue is blue. :p:

I'd say that it doesn't matter how long the journey is, if a bus is used between cities or countries it's still a bus purely by it's size, aesthetics and fittings as shown in the pictures. It just so happens that coaches are normally used for those kinds of distances.

edit: btw those sentences in your sig are pretty cool :biggrin:

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 5

FrogInABog

To me, a coach is usually chartered, whereas a bus is scheduled public transport.

That said, I think something like the Megabus blurs the line (it is scheduled public transport, but as a vehicle, it is something that would normally be used as a coach).

Good question though, if a bit random! :biggrin:

Reply 6

Psyk

I do think of a coach as distinct from a bus, but perhaps a coach is a particular type of bus?

It's kind of like how people consider fish or poultry to be distinct from meat, but actually they are particular types of meat.

edit - The wikipedia article for coach says it's a type of bus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coach_(bus)

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 7

placenta medicae talpae

Original post by FrogInABog

That said, I think something like the Megabus blurs the line (it is scheduled public transport, but as a vehicle, it is something that would normally be used as a coach).

This is the thing that makes me think there are two possible features which would make something a coach.
Megabus sometimes use double-deck vehicles which, if sold to a bus company, would be a 'bus'.
http://bus-and-coach-photos.com.s3.amazonaws.com/133.jpg
But when one is with that company and doing those kind of voyages, I'd still refer to it as 'the coach to Glasgow' or whatever.

Reply 8

placenta medicae talpae

Original post by Psyk

I do think of a coach as distinct from a bus, but perhaps a coach is a particular type of bus?

I think that, officially, they're both types of 'passenger-carrying vehicles'.

Reply 9

dendodge

I've always thought of coaches as private-hire - the kind of things they use for school trips - and buses as public transport. Maybe that's just me?

Reply 10

k9markiii

Original post by ameritus

Spoiler

And this is a bus:

Spoiler

For some reason it really gets to me when people confuse the two :rolleyes:

for example if someone says "I'm going to Edinburgh by bus" when they mean it's by coach. It's like calling a lorry a van.

I know the difference but make a point of calling coaches buses because all coach drivers seem to get really annoyed by this. A coach is just a worse version of a bus because it takes longer to get to your destination.

Reply 11

ameritus

Original post by FrogInABog

I think the problem is that it's called Megabus, when actually they use coaches too! National Express for example only use coaches and yet operate pretty much the same way as Megabus.

Original post by placenta medicae talpae

That's definitely a bus.

Original post by dendodge

I've always thought of coaches as private-hire - the kind of things they use for school trips - and buses as public transport. Maybe that's just me?

Again, I wouldn't really distinguish them based on the role they serve, just what they look like. When we were in school we'd use buses to go on school trips rather than coaches normally.

edit: I found a picture:

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 12

placenta medicae talpae

It's interesting to compare a 'coach' and a 'bus' service both going Coventry to Birmingham:

Bus service
http://nxbus.co.uk/files/NXWestMids/current_timetables/B900_26Nov12.pdf

Coach service

Reply 13

k9markiii

Original post by This Excellency

Terrific reasoning.

I would say that a coach is long distance - city to city. Whereas a bus is quite local - town to town.

A coach is, to my mind, different in that you can't buy your ticket on a coach but could on a bus or has only one stop. Hence even an intercity bus that looks like a coach would be a bus if you could buy tickets on the bus or went to multiple cities.

Reply 14

placenta medicae talpae

Original post by ameritus

Again, I wouldn't really distinguish them based on the role they serve, just what they look like. When we were in school we'd use buses to go on school trips rather than coaches normally.

So that means you would say you're getting the bus to Edinburgh, depending on what vehicle operates that particular journey?
So like if you booked to go to Edinburgh with Megabus, you'd say, "I'm getting the bus or coach to Edinburgh on Tuesday."?

Reply 15

LavenderBlueSky88

Yeah I always hear people saying they're getting the bus home from uni...and I always assume they mean the megabus? But most of the time they just mean a coach...to me a coach is where you sit higher up and have seat belts and sometimes there's a horrible little toilet on board.

Reply 16

smudge_moon

coaches have toilets and buses do not.

I'm aware some coaches do not have toilets, but that's how I usually just go to difference, other than the fact they look so different.

This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

Reply 17

iCiaran

But have you ever heard people say "The bus is here" when a train pulls into the station? At least there is some kind of blurred boundary/relationship between buses and coaches, but buses and trains?... :confused:

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 18

dendodge

Original post by ameritus

So a bus is double-decker and a coach is single-decker?

Because I get a bus every day, that calls itself a bus and that everyone calls a bus, but it only has one deck.

I've only ever used a coach for school trips. The biggest difference, apart from the purpose, is that coaches always seem to have seatbelts but buses don't.

Reply 19

ameritus

Original post by placenta medicae talpae

Pretty much, yeah. Except if you use Megabus or National Express chances are it's going to be a coach, so I would just say coach anyway. Unless there are other companies that offer long-distance bus travel?