[5] In 1895, the company began to operate electric trams, and in 1906 introduced motor buses on the route between the Centre and Clifton.

As a result, in 1948 the Tilling Group sold its bus interests to the government, and Bristol Tramways became a state-owned company, under the control of the British Transport Commission.

Two other companies, Red & White and Western National, both also now state-owned, ran buses in the Stroud area of Gloucestershire, and those operations were transferred to Bristol Tramways in 1950.

On 1 January 1955, the bus manufacturing operation was separated into another company, Bristol Commercial Vehicles Limited.

[28][29] In 1963, the company attracted national attention when its operation of a colour bar, denying employment to non-white bus crews resulted in a 60-day boycott, led by youth worker Paul Stephenson.

[30] After a bitter campaign the company finally climbed down and started to employ black and Asian crews in September of that year.

[31][32] The 1960s and 1970s were years of declining bus usage, and the company struggled to make profits in the face of rising costs and falling revenues.

[37] In April 1985, Bristol Country Bus was rebranded as Badgerline and in 1986 its assets were transferred to a separate legal entity[38] and privatised in September 1986 in a management buyout.

[42][43] In April 1988, Midland Red West was itself sold to Badgerline, returning the two parts of the former company to common ownership.

[44] Bristol Omnibus was included in the June 1995 merger of Badgerline with GRT Group to form FirstBus.

[45][46][47] The Bristol Omnibus name had fallen out of operational use for some time, as FirstBus rolled out its corporate identity to its subsidiaries.

[2] Under that name it is now the First company operating in Bristol, Bath, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire and West Wiltshire, but it remains the same legal entity incorporated on 1 October 1887.