Buses in Prague - History

History

The first buses in Prague were experimentally operated in 1908 in the Malá Strana district, but due to unreliable technology at the time it was declared a failure after 20 months. Regular service was started on 20 June 1925 and is in operation continuously since.

In 1990s and 2000s, metropolitan system was integrated and expanded with suburban transport as Pražská integrovaná doprava (PID, Prague Integrated Transport). Some directions (Kladno) remain not integrated in this system. The buses are fulfilling many different roles in the Prague's public transport. Many lines serve as connections between the metro and housing quarters. There are also plans to gradually introduce trunk services, similar to bus rapid transit systems in Latin America.

The buses are fulfilling many different roles in the Prague's public transport and they were several times changed during years. Many lines serve as connections from housing areas to the metro, railway or tram stations, many lines serves as local net or tangential connection (metro and tram lines are prevalently diagonal). Main terminals of metropolitan buses are near metro stations: Černý Most, Zličín, Háje, Letňany, Nové Butovice, Želivského, Českomoravská, Kačerov, Budějovická, Depo Hostivař, Dejvická, Na Knížecí (Anděl), Skalka, Palmovka, Nádraží Holešovice, Florenc etc. Suburban and long-distance buses use some of them. The main stations of long-distance buses are ÚAN Florenc, Černý Most and Zličín.

Since 2008, ROPID is implementing a plan to differentiate rachial lines with small intervals and articulated buses. Some telematic systems are widely implemented (GPS monitoring, traffic signal preference).