First Bus becomes corporate sponsor of Women in Transport
First Bus is delighted to announce its new partnership with Women in Transport as a corporate sponsor, working closely with the organisation to improve gender equality across its business and the wider bus industry.
A member of Women in Transport’s Diversity & Inclusion Bus Group since 2019, First Bus is on a journey to become a place where everyone feels welcome, can be their true selves and succeed. The operator is committed to embedding EDI initiatives as part of its wider transformation journey, implementing a range of inclusion activities and approaches to increase colleague involvement and engagement.
As the first UK bus operator to achieve Inclusive Employer status, First Bus has also introduced flexible driving shifts to attract a wider demographic of applicants that are representative of the communities it serves. And as part of its mission to drive industry-wide change, the business recently led the first ever Inclusive Cab Summit in partnership with Women in Transport – the first step in creating a gold standard for bus cab design.
Gareth Hind, Director of Colleague Experience and Relations at First Bus, said: “The work that Women in Transport do is inspiring and we are privileged to formalise our long-standing relationship with the group, as we collaborate to shape the future and promote the bus industry as a rewarding career that is open and welcoming to everyone from all walks of life.”
Sonya Byers, CEO at Women in Transport, said: “We are thrilled to announce the partnership between Women in Transport and First Bus, united by a common mission to transform the transport industry into a more equal, diverse and inclusive sector. Together, we look forward to building on this shared vision and the opportunities this collaboration brings.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
About First Bus
At First Bus, we are on a mission to grow bus usage. We will get behind initiatives that move people out of cars and onto bus.
We are one of the UK’s largest bus operators, delivering over a million passenger journeys every week for the communities we serve.
Transforming our business for the better, we are putting our people and customers at the heart of all we do.
We are all about making journeys easier for our customers, which is why we were the first national bus operator to rollout Tap On, Tap Off payment technology across our entire UK fleet of 4500 buses. Our First Bus app has also been voted ‘best in class’ amongst UK bus operators.
First Bus is committed to operating a zero-emission bus fleet by 2035. By March 2024, 15% of our will fleet will comprise Zero Emission Buses (ZEBs).
We are passionate about giving back to the communities we serve, which is why we are helping local businesses to progress their own decarbonisation journeys with access to our charging hubs while our buses are on the road.
We also operate the Aircoach network in Ireland, Specialist Passenger Solutions, First Travel Solutions, York Pullman Bus Company and Ensignbus.
First Bus is a division of FirstGroup.
Find more information on First Bus here: https://news.firstbus.co.uk/