Press Releases

59 items found, showing page 3 of 5

Autonomous Bus10

UK’s first autonomous zero-emission bus service begins in Oxfordshire

  • Operating at Milton Park business, science and technology park in Oxfordshire
  • Electric 15-seater autonomous bus accessible to wheelchairs and pushchairs
  • Ground-breaking technology in vehicle movement and world-first travel planning
First Bus York team unveil plans for all-electric depot with local councillor

York and Norwich set to become first all-electric bus depots outside of London after boosted ZEBRA funding

  • York and Norwich set to become the UK’s first bus depots outside of London to run fully electric fleets 
  • Four First Bus depots benefit from boosted joint investment in electric fleet 
  • First Bus to reach a total of over 600 zero emission buses across the UK by March 2024
BRG funding extension Feb22

First Bus welcomes extension to UK Government support for Bus services across England

  • Bus fare cap to be extended for three months, backed by up to £75 million to help passengers save money and Get Around for £2
  • Government also confirms up to £80 million to continue support for critical bus services around England
  • Over 5 million passengers have utilised the £2 fare scheme on First Bus services since January 2023
Simon Mathieson, Head of Operational Excellence (3)

First Bus appoint new Head of Operational Excellence

  • Appointment to new role as Head of Operational Excellence
  • New hire will collaborate with LBUs and Head of Engineering Excellence with purpose of improving customer experience
Ensignbus

FirstGroup plc reaches agreement to acquire Essex-based Ensign Bus Company

  • Agreement to purchase Ensign Bus Company Limited (‘Ensignbus’)
  • Ensignbus is a high-performing business with strong positions in business-to-business (‘B2B’) and regional commercial bus operations in Essex, as well as a vehicle refurbishment and re-sale operation, alongside a high value depot.
  • Completion of the acquisition is anticipated in the next few months subject to customary regulatory review.
First Bus & Reaseheath College welcomed Roads Minister Richard Holden MP

First Bus and Reaseheath College host Roads Minister at UK's first dedicated bus and coach industry training academy ahead of National Apprenticeship Week

  • First Bus and Reaseheath College have teamed up to create a dedicated apprentice training academy to create engineers of the future for the bus industry
  • State-of-the-art facility that recreates a bus depot environment for apprentices as part of industry leading 12-week training programme
  • Facility that opened in 2021 is now starting to bear fruit as first cohort of apprentice progresses through the programme
Autonomous Bus consortium with Roads Minister Richard Holden MP

First Bus and partners welcome Roads Minister to launch UK's first all-electric autonomous bus service at Milton Park

  • UK’s first zero emission autonomous bus service to operate at Milton Park business, science and technology park in Oxfordshire 
  • Project to launch two zero emission single-decker autonomous buses which are fully accessible to wheelchair users and prams
  • Ground-breaking technology in vehicle movement and travel planning
  • The buses will have a safety driver on board at all times during operation and have completed its first test passenger journeys over the past two weeks
First Bus Family travel

Millions encouraged to Get Around For £2 by bus

  • Millions of people across England will be able to travel by bus for £2 from 1 January to 31 March, thanks to £60 million in Government funding to cap single tickets 
  • People can save almost a third of the average £2.80 bus fare, while in some rural areas tickets can reach over £10 for a single journey
  • Over 130 operators who run routes outside London will be part of the scheme, taking an estimated two million cars off the road and reducing emissions  
CityRed2

First Bus announces proposals to cease all operations in Southampton

  • 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 Cymru Bus - Bridgend 2

First Bus team up with Ticketer to launch innovative new Tap On Tap Off pilot in Wales

  • 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. 
Prospective   First Bus 5

First Bus partners with Prospective.io to deploy automated fleet scheduling across UK operations

  • 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.