Omnibus

a Latin word signifying for all. It is applied to a covered wagon designed to carry any who may choose to pay a fare. Under the shortened name of "bus," this sort of vehicle is a regular feature in railroad towns, where it plies to and fro between hotel and station, ordinarily at a charge of twenty-five cents for the round trip. The omnibus is said to have been an invention (1661) of Blaise Pascal, the eminent scientist of Paris, who amassed a moderate fortune from fares. The London omnibus dates from 1829; the New York vehicle, from 1830.