History of Saint Petersburg
Founded by Tsar Peter the Great on 27 May 1703. It became capital of the Russian Empire for more than two hundred years (1712–1728, 1732–1918). St. Petersburg ceased being the capital in 1918 after the Russian Revolution of 1917.
Buses in Saint Petersburg
The first buses started to move through the city in 1907 and were operated by Saint Petersburg Automobile-Omnibus Company (Санкт-Петербургское товарищество автомобильно-омнибусного сообщения). During World War I, all the municipal transport was stopped, and didn't recover until the end of the October Revolution. The buses system was relaunched in Leningrad on July 8, 1926. The first Russian-made bus was Ya-6 which was manufactured by ARZ.
The first bus company was Lenkomtrans (Ленкомтранса) which was later renamed to Passazhiravtotrans (Пассажиравтотранс). During World War II all the transportation was operated by the Red Army. In March 1945 the city council recovered the buses system and started to manufacture their own buses made by AZUL factory. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the buses were operated by Passazhiravtotrans which become the main operator but not the only one. Since July 2012 there are night lines in the city.