First Bus is a leading transport operator in the UK that prides itself in providing travel solutions for an increasingly congested world. Our Greater Glasgow operation keeps the city, its communities and surrounding areas connected through a network of over 80 routes.
The roll-out of mobile ticketing and contactless payments have enabled us to provide customers with simpler ticketing options and faster journey times. We’re also the first major bus operator to offer contactless payments on all of the services that we operate across the U.K.
We’ve also started taking delivery of a batch of 75 brand new buses for use across the network, which is the result of our latest fleet investment of over £14m. Glasgow is the first city in Scotland to make preparations to implement a Low Emission Zone (LEZ) from 2019, and we’re already on track to meet the year 1 requirement of operating over 20% of our fleet with Euro 6 compliance through the designated zone.
We’re continuing work with our industry partners as we encourage commuters to ditch the car and take the bus. For instance, a double decker bus has the potential to remove up to 75 cars from the road and therefore has a key part to play in delivering greener journeys across the region, as we look to ease the strain on our already congested roads.
We’re also working with businesses of all sizes to boost their employee benefits programmes through our Commuter Travel Club, which offers preferential rates for staff.
If you’d like to find out more about our Commuter Travel Club, services, or work with us as part of our commitment to keep people moving and communities prospering in the areas that we serve, please visit www.firstgroup.com/greater-glasgow
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First Bus has been leading the way in public transport decarbonisation through the creation of the UK’s largest Electric Vehicle rapid charging hub at Glasgow’s Caledonia bus depot, further extending our scope to help other businesses across Scotland to decarbonise.
Caledonia is equipped with 80 double headed charging points with the capability of charging 160 electric electric vehicles on site. The site is also home to 150 zero-emission electric buses which account for 50% of the current active fleet on site. First’s sister depot sites located at Scotstoun in the west of Glasgow, and at King Street in Aberdeen are about to come online, taking First Scotland’s EV bus fleet to 224 in the process. We’re also working on expanding our EV charging model into sites across Lanarkshire.
As part of a COP26 legacy commitment, First Bus outlined plans for making charging facilities available to third parties on a business to business format in support of their own decarbonisation efforts, particularly when our own electric fleet is out on the road for much of the day. We feel that it is important that others benefit from the investment and learnings of our own decarbonisation journey, whether that be in the form of a simple charging solution to assist companies with rolling out their own EV fleet, or wider assistance and guidance through our learnings in the conversion of third-party site infrastructure towards net zero delivery.
First Bus is currently able to offer business to business charging solutions to any company, big or small, with a desire to move to an emission free vehicle fleet. CLICK HERE for further information on the benefits that fleet charging agreements with First Bus can deliver.
If you’d like to find out more about our decarbonisation journey and the ways in which we can support other businesses and institutions on their own path towards net zero, and/or book a tour of Caledonia, please get in touch with Robert Burns, our Stakeholder Engagement Officer by email at Robert.Burns@firstbus.co.uk
