The Invention of Buses

The last stagecoach traveled over the Gotthardpass in the Swiss Alps in 1881, steered by Alois Zgraggen. There's a song about him that ends with:

Now I no longer travel southward,

and I pray to God: My Lord, grant me rest soon,

I’m no good for anything here anymore,

so if you would be merciful to me, let me soon pass through Heaven’s gate.

I’m no good for anything here anymore, so if you would be merciful to me,

let me soon pass through Heaven’s gate.

Then, when you call,

O God, I’ll sing merrily atop the wagon seat:

“Giddy-up, my Liesel, gently now, at an easy pace!”

So the interesting thread through history for me was the comment on Damascus - the streets were built with houses close together and therefore carriages could not pass each other (and presumably barely in single file)

It was not possible to run a bus service until the roads were widened.

What caused that Inwonder?

In London the fire of 1666 presumably meant streets were made wider (to prevent spread of fire) - but why in Paris? New York was designed as a grid. Was this just a reaction to “urgh, we don’t want to be tired old cities like Damascus so they built wider streets?)

Was it the need to drive traffic through to supply urban areas and take out manufactured goods?

Was it better sanitation?

It's interesting that taxis and shared vehicles came so many years before buses. Also interesting to think about through the lens of aviation. I wonder how soon after we had powered flight someone launched a commercial fixed route service. And how much economics has to do with all of this.