Buses in Kelvia

Bus services in Kelvia are served by a variety of public bus operators, which are contracted and regulated by Kelvia Urban Transit. Public buses also form the backbone of public transport in the region, as they serve all parts of the Kelvia Capital District.

History
In October 1925, the Ikosenniemi Bus Company (IBC) was formed, intending to provide services in the northern part of Kelvia’s city center. Since then, more bus companies have stepped up to provide bus services in Kelvia and the surrounding towns and suburbs.

In the early 1950s, shortly before Arola gained independence, IBC began to introduce new AEC Regent III RT double deck buses, in an attempt to improve bus services. This proved to be a success and double deck buses began to be used on more high-demand routes throughout the next few decades until they were outnumbered by articulated buses in the 1980s and 1990s.

At this point in time, the IBC adopted a grey squirrel as its mascot, which later earned its current name of Squirrel Transit. International bus operators such as from the United Kingdom also began to start their own bus services in Kelvia, which also improved reliability of buses due to their experiences in more developed cities.

In 2006, Squirrel Transit leased a Solaris Urbino for demonstration purposes and began introducing them into bus services two years later. The Urbino continues to be the most used single decker fleet in Kelvia’s bus operations.

Despite attempts to improve reliability, the existing bus system in Kelvia has never been successful to motivate people to switch to public transport. Hence, in 2014, Kelvia Urban Transit initiated a proposition to contract bus operators, as well as integrate the bus system into the Kelvia light rail. This would also include a new unified livery in an uniform aquamarine and azure livery. The proposition was passed in summer 2015 and the new changes took effect from July 2015.