The whole town goes by Bus

With the Industrial Revolution, the population exploded in the metropolitan areas. The existing means of transportation with horse-drawn carriages could no longer cope with the large volumes of passengers and the cities soon began to look for ways that appeared more contemporary and practical. In Vienna, the public bus service started on 23 March 1907, but initially only on a trial basis going to Kaiserebersdorf and Kagran. The proper operation was taken on in 1909 by the City of Vienna.

Ferdinand Porsche would not, of course be Ferdinand Porsche, if he hadn’t also put some thought into the development of an omnibus in exactly that period of time. His work ultimately led to the Omnibus Mixte, which was presented to the public in Vienna in 1907. The design was based on the “Mixte” engine system in which a gasoline engine drives electric wheel hub motors directly in the front wheels via a generator. The conventional air-filled tires were useless for this purpose and solid rubber ones had to be used instead, weighing over 100 kg each – a real challenge when a tire broke on the road! But the bus produced by Lohner could not prevail eventually.