Transport On The Isle of Wight - Buses

Buses

April 1905 saw the start of bus services on the island, with the Isle of Wight Express Syndicate operating a circular service running Newport, Shanklin, Sandown, Ryde, then back to Newport. Later in 1922, the Vectis bus company was formed. At first the company used only double decker buses. However a review later found the island's roads were not suitable for this type of vehicle, meaning single decker buses had to be used instead. Double deckers were first re-introduced in 1936. In 1929, the Vectis Bus Company was bought out by Southern Railway, forming Southern Vectis. From then it was always owned by large national concerns and after 1968 became part of the state-owned National Bus Company. In 1986 with privatisation the bus company was bought by its management team and has stayed independent until 2005, when it was bought by the Go-Ahead Group.

Southern Vectis have had a near monopoly on bus transport on the Isle of Wight for much of the 20th and early 21st Century, only challenged briefly after deregulation in 1986. Southern Vectis ruthlessly guarded its dominant position (with much controversy), and in under 4 years the company's monopoly was yet again restored. The company now provides a total of 15 different bus routes for the island with the most regular services run between the larger towns such as Ryde and Cowes. From April 2006, the company changed its livery on all buses (excluding open top buses) to two shades of green and also operated buses on a newly designed, simplified network. This is based on most routes radiating from Newport, which is convenient for shoppers with Newport being the central shopping area of the Isle of Wight. The bus station in Newport has recently been redeveloped, with the previous location being developed into shops, with the bus station behind.

This new network did not allocate certain routes with different livery, as had been done previously. During the summer, Southern Vectis also operates some open top tourist routes; The Sandown Bay Tour, The Downs Tour and The Needles Tour. These are popular for many tourists visiting the island during the summer months.

Wightbus, first started in the 1970s as the Isle of Wight County Council's 'County Bus' and was built up and branded 'Wightbus' in 1997. They operate a smaller network of bus services that are not viable for a commercial operator to run, but which attract a government subsidy. They took around 1000 island students to and from school, until Southern Vectis took over all school services from September 2010.

Cowes park and ride is currently the only park and ride site on the island, however there has been regular talk of building one for Newport in the future.