Press Releases

• First Bus becomes UK’s first bus operator to offer a consumer charging hub to help local community make switch to electric vehicles. 
• The new purpose-built site in Cornwall will be ready for customers later this summer. 
• Site provides eight rapid charging points for public EVs that will fully charge a family car in under 30 minutes.  

• New facility is ideally placed on key tourist route into Cornwall. 

• First Bus invests £2.5m in solar power across 20 of its UK depots. 
• Over 6,000 Solar Photo Voltaic (PV) panels will be in place by mid-June.  
• The panels will generate more than 2 million kWh per year - enough to power 700 family homes. 
• This investment will help First Bus to become net zero and self-sustaining with on-site energy generation.    

• First Bus’ Leicester depot will join York and Norwich to become one of the UK’s first three fully electrified bus depots outside of London 
• The ‘bus depot of the future’ sets a precedent for UK-wide road transport decarbonisation  
• First Bus Leicester will have 86 new electric buses expected on public roads by March 2024 

• This brings the total investment across all ZEBRA projects that First Bus is delivering to £92m, alongside ZEBRA funding of £66m.  

• 41% of UK adults are planning to use the bus more frequently in a bid to save money, as households feel the pinch of the cost-of-living crisis. 
• London has seen the most increased bus use (60%) followed by Glasgow (47%), Leeds (45%) and Liverpool (43%).

• First Bus data shows half of UK adults would take the bus more often if they knew that decision would have a direct positive impact on the environment.
• No parking hassles (45%), saving money (36%) and protecting the environment (29%) are three biggest benefits of choosing bus travel.
• 47% of Brits who live in London agree that taking the bus helps with their mental health more than other modes of transport

• Shifting journeys from car to bus and coach once a month could save millions of tons of C02e emissions
• Half of Brits would take the bus more if services were better
• Just one fully loaded bus can take 75 cars off the road

Isabel McAllister recently completed First Bus’ new exec team when she joined First Bus as Chief Sustainability and Compliance Officer, bringing a wealth of knowledge and experience in the field of sustainability from her time in the built environment sector. For International Women in Engineering Day, she reflects on what she wants women who are considering joining the industry to know, and why it’s so important to improve gender diversity in STEM.