Hancock's steam omnibus, 'The Enterprise', 1833. With seating for 14 passengers, it was the first self-propelled vehicle to operate a scheduled bus service for fare-paying passengers.
Image: Science Museum/SSPL
Steam on the roads
From about 1820 many inventors tried building lightweight steam engines for driving road carriages. Goldsworthy Gurney built a steam carriage in 1827 that could run at about 15 miles per hour.
Walter Hancock built nine steam carriages between 1827 and 1838. In 1833 ran a regular service in London between Paddington and the City. All these vehicles were quite uncomfortable and punished the road surface severely.
