please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article may require copy editing for poor grammar and some typos . you can assist by editing it . august 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message this article possibly contains original research . please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations . statements consisting only of original research should be removed . august 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . august 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message this article may contain improper references to self published sources . please help improve it by removing references to unreliable sources where they are used inappropriately . august 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message some of this article s listed sources may not be reliable . please help this article by looking for better more reliable sources . unreliable citations may be challenged or deleted . august 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message this article needs to be updated . please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information . august 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message southern vectis scania omnicity in cowes in august 2009 slogan the island s buses parent go ahead group founded 1929 headquarters newport service area isle of wight service type bus services fleet 105 operator go south coast part of the go ahead group chief executive andrew wickham website www.islandbuses.info southern vectis 1 is the dominant bus operator on the isle of wight . formed in 1921 and later owned by the southern railway it was nationalised in 1948 and became part of the national bus company in 1969 . privatised in 1987 it became a subsidiary of the go ahead group in july 2005 . in the 1980s it engaged in some aggressive tactics to try and stifle its competitors . this attracted the attention of the office of fair trading . contents 1 history 2 dealings with competition 2.1 bus services 2.2 franchising 2.3 refusal to allow access to bus stations 2.4 school bus services 3 current operations 3.1 standard services 3.1.1 night buses 3.2 open top buses 3.3 shanklin steamer 3.4 island coaster 4 former operations 4.1 dotto road trains 5 home to school transport coach unit 5.1 fleetnames 5.2 school services 5.3 other services 6 fares and subsidies 6.1 student rider 6.1.1 discontinuation and half fare extension 6.2 senior bus pass 6.3 threats of cuts 7 fleet 7.1 livery 8 see also 9 references 10 further reading 11 external links history edit past lettering & logos tilling group gold lettering pre 1972 national bus company 1972 1986 after privatisation in 1986 until 1995 the logo used from 1995 until 2006 the previous logo used from 2006 until 2013 the origins of southern vectis began with a company called dodson & campbell founded in 1921 . 2 in 1923 this was renamed the vectis bus company based in cowes and with a distinctive livery of saxe blue and red and vectis fleet name . it had an association with london bus body builder christopher dodson therefore all vectis buses of the period had dodson built bodies . double deckers at ryde depot in 1979 in 1929 the business was bought by the southern railway and incorporated as the southern vectis omnibus company limited . 1 in 1948 the southern railway was nationalised and as a result so was southern vectis . this led to southern vectis becoming part of the national bus company in 1969 . in 1986 as a consequence of the transport act 1985 the business was sold in a management buy out . 3 4 deregulation meant that other companies could register and run bus routes against previously nationalised bus companies . this was significant for southern vectis in two ways the company which had a virtual monopoly on isle of wight transport was exposed to competition from no fewer than five operators and southern vectis itself expanded in 1987 forming badger vectis in poole and solent blue line in southampton using older southern vectis buses and second hand double deckers to compete with the dominant southampton citybus on their most profitable routes . 5 deregulation for the isle of wight has simply meant that we have competition on one route and basically everything else is exactly as it was before deregulation on the rest except where we had a public company it s now a private company . dermot bremner transport officer for the isle of wight 1987 6 from the start of deregulation southern vectis was one of the most aggressive of the new bus operators illustrated by the company s restored monopoly of isle of wight services and the fact that solent blue line now bluestar retains a strong presence within southampton and hampshire alongside what remains of city bus in first hampshire & dorset . the newly privatised southern vectis expanded its business into other areas on the island too the company bought a self drive van hire firm and also 2 ford granada taxis which it ran from cowes pontoon . 7 the taxis both served as a new venture for the company and a way to take on one of its then new competitors gange taxis & minicoaches on their home turf . taxibus services were also pioneered by southern vectis on the island where taxi firms were appointed to run rural routes which would otherwise not be served . however southern vectis had relinquished its involvement in taxis all together by 1989 . 7 preserved eastern coach works bodied bristol re in post 1995 cream red and green livery in june 2008 the company made national news in 2003 with the launch of a pink punishment school bus nicknamed the pink peril designed to take badly behaved students to and from school . 8 9 the vehicle was the oldest in the fleet an iveco minibus fleet number 283 . the scheme initially proved a success but was later scrapped . in july 2005 southern vectis was sold to the go ahead group . 10 this sale included both southern vectis and hampshire subsidiary solent blue line . southern vectis along with mainland companies bluestar and wilts & dorset is part of go south coast . one of the first changes under the new ownership was an amended network in april 2006 using newport as its hub with most other routes linking to it . although resulting in the loss of some existing routes like the island explorer the change proved largely successful ; within 18 months passenger numbers had increased by 45 % with a 14 % growth in fare paying customers . this was one of the largest increases in the uk and has continued since . 11 in october 2009 southern vectis launched a website promoting its own car scrappage scheme offering island residents who agreed to scrap their cars a season ticket of up to 12 months . southern vectis announced five vehicles had been scrapped within the first fortnight and it had received around 6 000 enquiries . 12 so far the scheme has seen 75 vehicles scrapped including a horsebox with a claimed carbon saving of 145 tonnes per annum . 13 in 1994 southern vectis became a shareholder in the polish bus company kaliskie line autobus with 18.38 % of the company s shares . in september 2010 this holding was sold to the majority shareholder the city of kalisz . 14 dealings with competition edit gange s minicoaches left ran a competing bus route against southern vectis right in the late 1980s southern vectis was the national bus company subsidiary on the isle of wight before its break up and privatisation in 1986 . it began and remains the dominant operator on the island with token competition . 15 southern vectis now faces virtually no competition following the isle of wight council s wightbus operation ceasing in september 2011 . bus services edit eastern coach works bodied bristol lh at ryde bus station on route 1a in june 1987 during the period when southern vectis engaged in duplication as a result of deregulation in 1986 several competitors emerged or increased an existing presence running routes competing with southern vectis . these included gange s minicoaches grand hotel tours island travel aka cooke s coaches of porchfield moss motor tours redlynx seaview services and wiltax of shanklin . 2 16 both island travel and gange s minicoaches which established routes between cowes and ryde 2 ceased running their bus services partially due to anti competitive practices by southern vectis . these included southern vectis running their own vehicles immediately ahead of competitors where routes coincided a practice known as duplication . 2 17 these tactics were by no means temporary in the case of gange s minicoaches they continued up until the firm ceased running bus services two and a half years later . competitors accused southern vectis of enlisting a special squad of drivers which went as far as lying in wait for a competitor to appear in the distance and immediately setting off in front to pick up whatever passengers were waiting at the next stop . the squad tasked with running ahead of gange s minicoaches was termed the gangebusters by staff . 18 duplication tactics were seen again in 1991 southern vectis shadowed an isle of wight county council contracted bus run by norman baker taxis and as a result the council was forced to terminate the contract or face being accused of wasting poll tax payers money . 17 franchising edit throughout these disputes southern vectis insisted that its solution was franchising routes stating that the company was the market leader in the practice . 17 in such a case southern vectis would let another operator run one of their usually less profitable routes in return for a share of the takings of the route . franchising was initially successful in southern vectis mainland business where the company franchised solent blue line routes to marchwood motorways . franchisees who took on routes from southern vectis itself included m travel who took on the newport town circular . the traditional bus company and the village bus company who took on some of the open top routes including the shanklin pony . the last franchisee was the alpha group which ran the newport town circular after m travel s collapse . since that time southern vectis have not franchised any routes to operators . refusal to allow access to bus stations edit competitors were forced to use bus stops outside of newport bus station which they claimed were deliberately obscured by parked double deckers in 1986 the newly privatised southern vectis inherited newport bus station the island s main bus terminus as part of the deal . this caused numerous headaches for upstart competitors who were refused access to what southern vectis considered their private land but the public thought was the place all buses would be available from regardless of which company they were operated by . southern vectis refusal to allow gange s minicoaches to use newport bus station prompted an investigation in 1987 by the office of fair trading . 2 this was the first time the deregulated bus industry had come under investigation from the oft . 19 the oft report published in 1988 found southern vectis behaviour to be anti competitive preventing smaller bus operators from establishing awareness and competing effectively . 20 21 southern vectis was presented with an ultimatum following the report either allow competitors to use the bus station or face the then monopoly and