Help Needed with Number Plates and Fleet Numbers

[YPudd]

I'm playing City Bus Manager and putting it on Youtube and I've created a fictional bus company called Bradford Community Transport. Someone has pointed out to me that the default number plates are American and I should change them to English.

I have no idea how bus number plates works and looking on Google opened a whole can of worms and I'm confused I have attached a screenshot of a list of buses I am currently using and intend to use incase this helps.

As far as fleet numbers go I was thinking of using BCT then a bunch of numbers except on the route branded buses for example I plan to rebrand the 72 to City lnk and use a fleet number of CL and a bunch of numbers and something different again when I introduce electric buses.

Is this realistic.

Any help on both these subjects will be massively appreciated as I have no idea how this works

 

[Strathtay 260]

Modern British registration plates follow a standardized format (e.g.: SG72 NCC) - unless they have private registration plates, meaning the registration plate is chosen.

​

The First Two Letters:​

These indicate the region where the vehicle was first registered.

• The first letter refers to a broad geographical area
• The second letter narrows this down to a specific DVLA office within that region. For example:
  • "BM" = Birmingham
  • "SG" = Glasgow, Scotland (all Scottish plates start with the letter 'S')"
  • "MC" = Manchester

This website is hopefully useful.

The Two Digits:​

These are the age identifier, showing when the vehicle was registered.

• The first digit indicates whether the registration occurred in the first or second half of the year:
• The second digit provides the year. For example:
  • "02" = March to August 2002
  • "52" = September to Febuary 2003
  • "12" = March to August 2012.
  • "62" = September 2012 to February 2013.
  • "22" = March to August 2022.
  • "72" = September 2022 to February 2023

The Last Three Letters:​

These are random to make each plate unique, with no inherent meaning. It is made sure that plates don't spell inappropriate or offensive words.

For example, SG72 NCC:​

Initially, I provided SG72 NCC as an example of a valid modern UK registration plate. We can work out from this that the vehicle was registered in Glasgow and was new in the second half of 2022 (more precisely, August 2022 to February the next year).

City Bus Manager:​

I too play this grand game and register all my buses using the UK format.

Fleet numbers:​

Fleet numbers don't exactly matter as there is no standard format. For example, Stagecoach use 5 digit numbers without letters. Scottish operator Lothian uses fleet numbers which vary from 1 to 4 numbers. Having letters in front of the numbering is more of a London thing operators such as Go Ahead and Metroline use.


I really hope this helped (I did my best!) and feel free to ask any questions if you are unsure

 

[Ghostbus]

It's your bus company, so you can have your entire fleet on vanity plates if you wish. As long as the format is older than the bus, it's legal. And for a small fleet, why not use names instead of fleetnumbers?

If it were me, I'd go for a 4 digit fleet numbering system. 1xxx for minibuses. 2xxx for midis, 3xxx for single deckers etc, etc. Then for batches of buses you try and match xxx with the standard UK reg plate, e.g. LN52 AAA is 3001, LN52 AAB is 3002, etc.

 

[YPudd]

Modern British registration plates follow a standardized format (e.g.: SG72 NCC) - unless they have private registration plates, meaning the registration plate is chosen.

​

The First Two Letters:​

These indicate the region where the vehicle was first registered.

• The first letter refers to a broad geographical area
• The second letter narrows this down to a specific DVLA office within that region. For example:
  • "BM" = Birmingham
  • "SG" = Glasgow, Scotland (all Scottish plates start with the letter 'S')"
  • "MC" = Manchester

This website is hopefully useful.

The Two Digits:​

These are the age identifier, showing when the vehicle was registered.

• The first digit indicates whether the registration occurred in the first or second half of the year:
• The second digit provides the year. For example:
  • "02" = March to August 2002
  • "52" = September to Febuary 2003
  • "12" = March to August 2012.
  • "62" = September 2012 to February 2013.
  • "22" = March to August 2022.
  • "72" = September 2022 to February 2023

The Last Three Letters:​

These are random to make each plate unique, with no inherent meaning. It is made sure that plates don't spell inappropriate or offensive words.

For example, SG72 NCC:​

Initially, I provided SG72 NCC as an example of a valid modern UK registration plate. We can work out from this that the vehicle was registered in Glasgow and was new in the second half of 2022 (more precisely, August 2022 to February the next year).

City Bus Manager:​

I too play this grand game and register all my buses using the UK format.

Fleet numbers:​

Fleet numbers don't exactly matter as there is no standard format. For example, Stagecoach use 5 digit numbers without letters. Scottish operator Lothian uses fleet numbers which vary from 1 to 4 numbers. Having letters in front of the numbering is more of a London thing operators such as Go Ahead and Metroline use.


I really hope this helped (I did my best!) and feel free to ask any questions if you are unsure

Thank you I wasn't sure if buses used a different format So if I've got this correctly I could use the plate YA59 BCT for the Optare Solo M950 for example. making it a 2009/2010 bus that coincides with the release date of that bus

 

[Merle Haggard]

I've noticed that service buses seem to be allocated the same combination each year for a particular district. For instance, buses registered at Norwich seemed to be AE regardless of year, same with Northampton - usually KX. Seems unlikely to be a co-incidence but I'm open to correction.

 

[Thames99]

A lot of buses have the first two letters that relate to the manufacturer's area rather than the operator's. Years ago buses used to have registrations linked to the city or county of their first owners.

 

[joieman]

A lot of buses have the first two letters that relate to the manufacturer's area rather than the operator's. Years ago buses used to have registrations linked to the city or county of their first owners.

For instance, many Alexander-Dennis buses have registrations beginning with YX or YY for Yorkshire (Scarborough).

London seems to be an exception though as they still seem to have lots of buses with number plates beginning with L.

 

[Merle Haggard]

A lot of buses have the first two letters that relate to the manufacturer's area rather than the operator's. Years ago buses used to have registrations linked to the city or county of their first owners.

I think that was a D.V.L.A. Swansea requirement that vehicles have to be registered by the manufacturer rather than relying on dealers or owners. There are cars about that have never been registered - one such was involved in a high-profile incident - and it's presumably to close this loophole

 

[Cesarcollie]

I think that was a D.V.L.A. Swansea requirement that vehicles have to be registered by the manufacturer rather than relying on dealers or owners. There are cars about that have never been registered - one such was involved in a high-profile incident - and it's presumably to close this loophole

It is still possible to register a bus locally. But it is a lot of hassle compared to just letting the manufacturer do it.

 

[YPudd]

It's your bus company, so you can have your entire fleet on vanity plates if you wish. As long as the format is older than the bus, it's legal. And for a small fleet, why not use names instead of fleetnumbers?

If it were me, I'd go for a 4 digit fleet numbering system. 1xxx for minibuses. 2xxx for midis, 3xxx for single deckers etc, etc. Then for batches of buses you try and match xxx with the standard UK reg plate, e.g. LN52 AAA is 3001, LN52 AAB is 3002, etc.

I like this idea I couldn't find Bradford in number plate numbers but YA seems to cover Leeds so I was thinking starting my buses YA then the correct year code and then try and implement your idea I've just got an achievement for buying 100 buses which is a lot to edit, I think I have less than that though as I'm sure I sold some.

The game separates buses into mini buses, solos (single deckers), double deckers and large buses (articulated) so that should be easy to work out. I'm debating if my route branded buses should have their own fleet number for the route they are assigned to.

 

[Bovverboy]

Modern British registration plates follow a standardized format (e.g.: SG72 NCC) - unless they have private registration plates, meaning the registration plate is chosen.

The First Two Letters:​

These indicate the region where the vehicle was first registered.

• The first letter refers to a broad geographical area
• The second letter narrows this down to a specific DVLA office within that region. For example:
  • "BM" = Birmingham
  • "SG" = Glasgow, Scotland (all Scottish plates start with the letter 'S')"
  • "MC" = Manchester

This website is hopefully useful.

The Two Digits:​

These are the age identifier, showing when the vehicle was registered.

• The first digit indicates whether the registration occurred in the first or second half of the year:
• The second digit provides the year. For example:
  • "02" = March to August 2002
  • "52" = September to Febuary 2003
  • "12" = March to August 2012.
  • "62" = September 2012 to February 2013.
  • "22" = March to August 2022.
  • "72" = September 2022 to February 2023

The Last Three Letters:​

These are random to make each plate unique, with no inherent meaning. It is made sure that plates don't spell inappropriate or offensive words.

For example, SG72 NCC:​

Initially, I provided SG72 NCC as an example of a valid modern UK registration plate. We can work out from this that the vehicle was registered in Glasgow and was new in the second half of 2022 (more precisely, August 2022 to February the next year).

City Bus Manager:​

I too play this grand game and register all my buses using the UK format.

Fleet numbers:​

Fleet numbers don't exactly matter as there is no standard format. For example, Stagecoach use 5 digit numbers without letters. Scottish operator Lothian uses fleet numbers which vary from 1 to 4 numbers. Having letters in front of the numbering is more of a London thing operators such as Go Ahead and Metroline use.
I really hope this helped (I did my best!) and feel free to ask any questions if you are unsure

I thought it might be worthwhile mentioning that there wasn't an '01' age identifier, since it would have covered the same period as had already been covered by the prefix 'Y'. The first age identifier was '51', followed by 02, 52, etc.

 

[richw]

I like this idea I couldn't find Bradford in number plate numbers but YA seems to cover Leeds so I was thinking starting my buses YA then the correct year code and then try and implement your idea

Bradford falls under the Leeds Registration area so that would have been correct for the area. Optare register their brand new vehicles in the Leeds Dvla office so would be correct for an Optare too.

 

[Busmansholiday]

BCT, Bradford City Transport in my day and the last operator of trolleybuses in the UK. Brings back fine memories, hopefully your buses will be blue and cream.

 

[Strathtay 260]

I thought it might be worthwhile mentioning that there wasn't an '01' age identifier, since it would have covered the same period as had already been covered by the prefix 'Y'. The first age identifier was '51', followed by 02, 52, etc.

Sorry, I thought I included this!

 

[YPudd]

BCT, Bradford City Transport in my day and the last operator of trolleybuses in the UK. Brings back fine memories, hopefully your buses will be blue and cream.

I didn't connect the 2 for some reason. My buses are purple I love the blue and cream buses but they were before my time, maybe I could do a heritage colour as some sort of anniversary thing. I have fond memories of the old Yorkshire Rider Buses in the 90s

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 Nov 2024 ==

Bradford falls under the Leeds Registration area so that would have been correct for the area. Optare register their brand new vehicles in the Leeds Dvla office so would be correct for an Optare too.

I'm assuming the enviro could be YR for Sheffield is that correct and I think Wright is Ireland so I'm not sure what to use for those

 

[richw]

I'm assuming the enviro could be YR for Sheffield is that correct and I think Wright is Ireland so I'm not sure what to use for those

Where I work our Enviros are a mix of SN and YN depending whether they came from the Scottish or Yorkshire factory

 

[YPudd]

Where I work our Enviros are a mix of SN and YN depending whether they came from the Scottish or Yorkshire factory

Thanks I will remember that. I'm currently trying to figure out the wright buses I'm zooming in on google pics of Wright buses number plates haha

 

[Ghostbus]

I'm debating if my route branded buses should have their own fleet number for the route they are assigned to.

Well, that's definitely not something that happens in the real world, bar a few tiny exceptions (New Routemaster SuperLoop?).

It's incredibly rare that an operator only owns a bus whilst it is one brand. And once assigned, a fleet number almost never changes (occasionally the last surviving members of a batch will be re-numbered to provide a free block for a new batch). Operators are far more likely to change a vehicle's registration plate than a fleetnumber, and even that happens rarely.

So if you wanted to go down that more authentic route, it would be quite normal for BTC to use vanity plates on some or even an entire batch of buses bought new for a specific branded route. A vanity plate cannot make a bus look newer than it is. So you can have X1 BTC on bus 5001. Or even a series, X1-30 BTC on buses 5001-5030.

Some operators will then remove and re-use the vanity plate on a newer bus as soon as that bus is debranded and demoted to main fleet use. Others will keep it on the same bus until it's eventual sale. Others still might not even bother to retain the registration as the bus itself leaves their posession.

I'll let others more knowledgeable weigh in on matters like when and how buses are re-registered, who owns the plate, how they are obtained, etc, since that can affect those choices, and informs things like whether you would have to have gaps in the registration series for these batch numbers. i.e. bus 5002 would probably be YN24 AAB, not AAA.

 

[richw]

Thanks I will remember that. I'm currently trying to figure out the wright buses I'm zooming in on google pics of Wright buses number plates haha

Seem a lot of streetdecks with SK and SL

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Seem a lot of streetdecks with SK and SL

And indeed, SM, SN and SO - more recent ones (and Streetlites too) arrived with MF, and a number of Electroliners and Kites with MA

 

[joieman]

Many Optares have regs beginning with YJ or sometimes YD.

 

[YPudd]

Seem a lot of streetdecks with SK and SL

That's useful thank you

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 Nov 2024 ==

Well, that's definitely not something that happens in the real world, bar a few tiny exceptions (New Routemaster SuperLoop?).

It's incredibly rare that an operator only owns a bus whilst it is one brand. And once assigned, a fleet number almost never changes (occasionally the last surviving members of a batch will be re-numbered to provide a free block for a new batch). Operators are far more likely to change a vehicle's registration plate than a fleetnumber, and even that happens rarely.

So if you wanted to go down that more authentic route, it would be quite normal for BTC to use vanity plates on some or even an entire batch of buses bought new for a specific branded route. A vanity plate cannot make a bus look newer than it is. So you can have X1 BTC on bus 5001. Or even a series, X1-30 BTC on buses 5001-5030.

Some operators will then remove and re-use the vanity plate on a newer bus as soon as that bus is debranded and demoted to main fleet use. Others will keep it on the same bus until it's eventual sale. Others still might not even bother to retain the registration as the bus itself leaves their posession.

I'll let others more knowledgeable weigh in on matters like when and how buses are re-registered, who owns the plate, how they are obtained, etc, since that can affect those choices, and informs things like whether you would have to have gaps in the registration series for these batch numbers. i.e. bus 5002 would probably be YN24 AAB, not AAA.

That's certainly something to consider thank you

 

[Ken H]

Buslistsontheweb.co uk allows searches by fleet number, operator, reg number etc. So you could have real registrations and fleet numbers for the period you want to depict.

 

[YPudd]

Buslistsontheweb.co uk allows searches by fleet number, operator, reg number etc. So you could have real registrations and fleet numbers for the period you want to depict.

I had a look, but I didn't knoiw what I was doing and I found it confusing

 

[Ken H]

Try facebook group 'views of Yorkshire, Bradford, Shipley, Baildon. With buses included . Lots of Bradford pix there.

FB link. Mods please remove if not allowed. https://www.facebook.com/groups/baildonbuses/?ref=share

Link goes to facebook group featuring Yorkshire buses and chat about them. Content changes as people post stuff.