Route no 12 has a long history in the West Wight. It was one of Southern Vectis's original route numberings, introduced in June 1933, when it ran from Alum Bay to Newport via Chessell and Brighstone. Later, for many years, prior to re-modelling of routes in 1985, it was the principal service to Newport, running via Yarmouth and Shalfleet and thence to Sandown via Shanklin. The route via Brighstone was numbered 29 in that period, running via Chessell, with a seasonal variant 28 via Compton. Latterly no. 28 via Compton became the primary year-round route.