Glasgow Caledonia fleet EV charging night 4

About First Bus

About First Bus

At First Bus, we’re on a mission to grow bus usage – so we’ll get behind initiatives that move people out of cars and onto the bus.     

We’re one of the UK’s largest bus operators, delivering more than 1.5 million passenger journeys a day. Our local bus services serve more than 25% of the population of Great Britain and over half of the UK’s top 15 most populated urban areas.      

We are a leading operator in the majority of our local areas, including in major urban centres such as London, Glasgow, Bristol, Sheffield and Leeds.    

Our First Bus London operation now operates 83 routes in west and central London from 10 garages serving 180 million passengers annually.   

The combined operation now manages a fleet of almost 6,000 buses and coaches across the UK, with over 20% are now have zero tailpipe emissions.   

Transforming our business for the better, we’re putting our people and customers at the heart of everything we do. That’s why we’re the UK’s largest national bus operator to achieve real Living Wage employer status, cementing our position as an employer of choice in the sector.      

First Bus is committed to operating a zero-emission bus fleet by 2035 and already has over 1100 zero tailpipe emission buses in operation.  

We’re passionate about giving back to the communities we serve, which is why we’re helping local businesses to progress their decarbonisation journeys – giving them access to our charging hubs while our buses are out on the road.

We also operate Anderson Travel, Ensignbus, First Travel Solutions, Lakeside Group, Specialist Passenger Solutions and York Pullman.

We also operate the Aircoach and Matthews networks on the island of Ireland.   

First Bus is a division of FirstGroup plc.      

Find more information here: https://news.firstbus.co.uk/  

First Bus is a division of FirstGroup plc, which you can contact here. For details of FirstGroup’s financial performance, click here.

Key facts 

  • 14,000 employees

We employ around 14,000 people across the UK and Ireland.

  • 6,000 fleet size

We have over 6000 buses in our fleet.

  • Progress on our zero-emission bus fleet

Following the completion of our latest electrification projects, we will operate more than 1100 zero-emission vehicles and have electric infrastructure at 16 depot sites across the UK.

  • Electric charging at 16 depots

We have electric charging infrastructure at 16 of our depots across the UK.

  • 1.5 million customers a day

We transport more than 1.5m customers a day.

  • 65 depots and outstations

We have 65 depots and outstations across the UK and Ireland.

  • Leader in Tap On, Tap Off technology

We were the first major UK bus operator to install Tap On, Tap Off ticketing technology across our entire fleet.

On International Women’s Day 2024, we set out new commitments and recruitment pledges to increase the number of women in our business. Find out more here.