First Bus and FirstGroup

First Bus is one of the UK’s largest bus operators with a fleet of more than 4,500 buses, serving two-thirds of the UK’s largest conurbations. First Bus is owned by First Group, a market leader in the public transport industry with bus and rail operations providing easy convenient mobility and connecting people and communities. First Bus initiated a strategic partnership to reimagine the delivery of mass urban transport, with a focus on sustainability and building a clean environment.

The collaboration began with a flagship deployment of 148 electric buses at their Caledonia depot in Glasgow. We delivered an as a service offering including bus batteries for First Glasgow’s electric vehicle (EV) fleet, smart charging software to manage EV charging and a decarbonization program exploring low carbon energy opportunities. The success of this partnership led to a deployment of more than 500 buses across ten new depots, in Leicester, Aberdeen, Bramley, Hoeford, York, Norwich, Minehead, Taunton, Weston-super-Mare and Scotstoun.

This collaboration, supporting FirstGroup’s bus fleet and infrastructure decarbonization programme, is delivering batteries for First Bus’ expanding electric bus fleet – helping to make a positive impact on air quality, tackle congestion and improve customer experience. The partnership will see up to £10 million cash investment each from both businesses, supporting the acquisition of 1,000 batteries.

We are helping First Bus to achieve its objectives to operate a zero carbon bus fleet by 2035. Our managed service program capitalizes on the depth and breadth of its transport network and experience to deliver a lower risk, higher quality, and lower cost solution with the following benefits:

• Managed risk and delivery of the decarbonization program and a single point of contact for issue identification, triage, and resolution.
• Operational management, contract management, issue management and resolution ownership as one contracting entity to support the solution deployments and operations.
• Procurement savings through larger deals with bus OEMs to leverage greater commercial buying power and influence.
• Financing savings through access to lower cost capital and access to a wide range of commercial offerings.
• Technology and geographic service interoperability through a fully integrated solution suite covering all First Bus’s software and hardware requirements.
• Data management and machine-learning enabled optimisation of First Bus operations through a ‘single pane of glass view of the business.
• New revenue generation opportunities across multiple depots through the effective utilisation of zero carbon sources of energy, static battery storage and 2nd party charging.

Through smart charging, effective battery management and dynamic energy management, First Bus, one of the UK’s largest bus operators, will also see improved energy utilisation in support of their carbon reduction objectives.