Southern Vectis is a bus operator on the Isle of Wight, founded in 1921 as Dodson and Campbell.

It also bought two Ford Granada taxis, which ran from the Cowes pontoon, and began taxibus services which continued until 1989.

[7][8] In July 2005, Southern Vectis and Solent Blue Line were sold to the Go-Ahead Group and became part of Go South Coast.

It is now the site of the Isle of Wight Bus & Coach Museum,[13] though some Southern Vectis buses remain in the neighbouring yard.

Another former garage, at Pier Street, Ventnor, was put up for auction in December 2020, with planning permission for two shops and 10 flats, but subsequently withdrawn.

[20] In 1991, these duplication tactics were seen again when Southern Vectis shadowed an Isle of Wight County Council-contracted bus run by Norman Baker Taxis.

[19] In 1986, Southern Vectis acquired Newport bus station as part of its privatisation and refused competitors access.

[21] The Office of Fair Trading report in 1988 found Southern Vectis' behaviour anti-competitive.

[22] In September 2010, the council engaged Southern Vectis to operate many school bus routes.

In 2009, Southern Vectis operated 15 standard bus services,[23] the most frequent being route 1, running every 7–8 minutes.

In 2007, Open Top Tours was rebranded Island Breezers (yellow and blue livery).

Stops were at Freshwater Bay and Blackgang Chine, linking them with Ventnor, Shanklin, Sandown and Ryde.

Until September 2009, three tourist road trains operated along the seafront of Ryde, Shanklin and Sandown.

[31] In July 2012, a £28m school transport contract was made by the Isle of Wight council and Southern Vectis.

Some were transferred from the Go-Southcoast subsidiary, Damory Coaches, formed of Volvo B12Ms with Alieeze T9 Bodywork Registered MV02.

[36] For 2008, a stop at the Old World Tea Rooms in Godshill was added for complimentary mince pie and a hot drink.

[39] Southern Vectis has increased its fares to reflect its market position and lack of effective competition.

Fares have also reflected the need to provide free transport to a relatively large population of elderly people on the Isle of Wight.

[42] In July 2010 after cuts in funding from the UK government to local authorities, the scheme was ended.

Island residents and visitors living in England over the qualifying age or with a disability have travelled free in the council area at any time of day, under the government's England-wide scheme.

[54] This was refreshed by Best Impressions in 2014 to incorporate a large green swoop towards the back of the vehicles, similar to the Vectis Blue livery.

This livery extended to the rest of the Island Breezers fleet as the buses were replaced or repainted.