Press Releases

• Proposal to withdraw all CityRed services in Southampton from February 19 2023.  
• Lower customer numbers post-covid, changes in travel patterns, rising costs and an ultra-competitive city market have led to this difficult decision. 
• Focus is on supporting colleagues and helping all those affected to find alternative roles within First Bus.  

• First Bus team up with Ticketer to launch innovative new Tap On Tap Off system for fares with pilot in Wales.
• Innovative new pilot aimed at capping fares based on distance travelled in industry first.
• The pilot could be rolled out in other regions if successful. 

• First Bus and Prospective.io have been working in partnership since 2019 to develop and test cutting edge automated timetabling and fleet scheduling software.
• Prospective’s AI platform has led to improvements in service punctuality and reliability in West Yorkshire during a pilot aimed at improving local service delivery.
• The Prospective system is now being rolled out across some of First Bus’ largest UK operating companies (OpCos).
• The new system will support dozens of network planners, schedulers and operations teams managing 4,000 vehicles across the UK.

• 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 were shortlisted in no less than seven categories for the annual Route One Awards.
• Simon Carlisle from First West Yorkshire scooped Engineer of the Year, Large Operator Award.
• First HDB’s Marc Reddy won the Manager of the Year, Large Operator Award.

• First Bus launch its first ever 'Month of Inclusion' in a bid to progress their company-wide equality, diversity and inclusion plans.

• First Bus owned Aircoach agree deal to purchase Northern Ireland based transport firm Airporter. 
• The deal will see Aircoach takeover the company’s operations to expand its footprint in Ireland 
• Aircoach will now increase its daily routes to seven with an enhanced all-island route connecting the North-West to Belfast International Airport, Dublin Airport and Dublin City Centre.

• FTS appoint new Business Operations Director to lead continued growth for business

Simon Pearson, Chief Commercial Officer at First Bus, comments on customer centricity; what it looks like in practice, and how changing perceptions is central to bus becoming a bigger part of the transport mix.

• First Bus have awarded a contract to fully convert 12 Optare Versa buses from existing EV Generation one system to Equipmake’s Zero Emission Drivetrain (ZED)
• Conversion work underway on the first Versa bus at Equipmake’s headquarters in Snetterton, Norfolk
• The first of the 12 buses is expected to be back in operation on the roads of York in November
• Equipmake’s patented HVAC system will have a guaranteed range of 150 miles in all UK weather conditions for the upgraded York fleet

• 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