Keeping people moving & communities prospering 2017/18 a focus on West Lothian
Introduction from
the MD
Welcome to the latest edition of our annual report which focuses on what we’re doing to keep people moving and communities prospering in West Lothian. We are proud to have provided services connecting the whole of West Lothian together for over 100 years, and as we look to the future, we’ve introduced a new network of services in response to customer feedback on their changing travel needs. Our new network continues to keep communities across West Lothian linked with the centres of Livingston and Edinburgh, while also delivering a more reliable, faster and more efficient local bus service than ever before. We’ve also invested heavily in technology with the roll out of our mobile ticketing app, as well as new ticket machines that offer contactless payments to our customers, uptake of which has been particularly good across West Lothian. We also have live streaming of real-time data to the First Bus app to help passengers keep up to date with the latest information about their journey. Livingston depot was ranked the best in engineering standards across the UK and has achieved Gold Wrench status in recognition of best practice in the maintenance and presentation of the First Bus fleet. We are continuing to work with our industry partners as we encourage commuters to ditch the car and take the bus. We take our responsibility supporting clean air initiatives for the community very seriously. We continue to invest in low engine emission technology with over £5m in new buses in the last 3 years. I hope that you enjoy reading our report. If you have any comments or questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch. Andrew Jarvis Managing Director
West Lothian 2017/18
Improving our customer offer Technology
9%
of customers using contactless travel since launch in March 2018
Technology is continually playing a greater part in making the customer travel experience easier than ever before. Our new contactless-enabled ticket machines were lauched at the end of the financial year and by the summer, 9% of our customers were already using contactless methods such as debit and credit card or ApplePay/GooglePay. We’re also continuing to promote the rapid growth of our M-tickets app, uptake of which has been particularly strong in West Lothian, with a view to having 80% of all journeys being made on a cashless basis by 2022. Our improved First Bus travel app additionally gives our customers access to real time information across our network.
Satisfaction
91%
*
We achieved an overall customer satisfaction score of 91% in the latest Bus Passenger Survey conducted by Transport Focus. However, we’re determined to make sure that every journey with First delivers, and we’ve therefore rolled out the ‘Tell FirstBus’ feedback form so that customers can tell us about their journeys with us in real time. *Midland Bluebird & Scotland East combined
Supporting service delivery for our customers
Our buses
Over £5m
in new vehicles
Our fleet of 68 buses deliver over 4.6 million passenger journeys every year across West Lothian and Edinburgh. We’ve invested £5.5m over the past 3 years in new vehicles to improve the journey experience, reduce emissions and their effect on the environment. A double decker bus can take up to 75 cars off the road and our network therefore has an integral part to play in encouraging commuters to ditch the car and take the bus. All our vehicles are fitted with GreenRoad telematics helping reduce emissions and provide customers with a smoother journey.
Staff & training
168 staff We employ a combined total of 168 staff across our West Lothian operations. We continually invest in our staff through ongoing training and development. The successful roll-out of our Journey Makers programme gives our drivers and customer facing staff new skillsets to use as part of our drive to continually improve passenger satisfaction. Also, we offer a variety of apprenticeships delivered to nationally recognised standards, with each apprentice supported and developed with the essential skills and knowledge required to gain a qualification and, in turn, build a rewarding career in the transport industry.
West Lothian 2017/18
Focus on performance Safety
Dedicated to Safety
All of our operating companies across Scotland actively promote our Be Safe programme, which encourages every employee to have a personal stake in the safety of ourselves, our colleagues and our customers. Also, driving standards are monitored through the DriveGreen system to ensure the delivery of safe journeys for our customers and staff. Our Livingston Depot are also the first depot to attain Gold standard in the highly acclaimed First Bus Wrench Awards, which recognise best practice in the maintenance and presentation of the First Bus fleet.
Reliability
Nearly 5m miles operated We always aim to operate every journey in our network to schedule, although we have had challenges to overcome across our network in the form of congestion and an intensive roadworks programme in recent times. However, our new network in conjunction with the recent roll out of real time tracking through new ticket machines, as well as continuing with our close relationships with transport partners, will contribute to improving our service reliability.
Strengthening our partnerships
Community
£1.5m
raised across the UK
First West Lothian, along with our sister operating companies across the UK, raised over £1.5m in funds for Prostate Cancer UK to help in the fight against a disease that kills one man every 45 minutes in the UK. Our new charity of choice was voted for by FirstGroup employees earlier this year. Action for Children are a UK children’s charity dedicated to helping vulnerable children, young people and their families across the length and breadth of the UK. We’re also an active partner in West Lothian communities, where we regularly take part in community fun days and visit schools to assist and educate pupils with the life skills that they need in learning to use public transport.
Journeys
Over 3.5m passenger journeys per year
Although we have slightly reduced the scale of our operation to make it more resilient in meeting the needs of our customers, our new West Lothian network will provide a more stable service, offering ‘turn up and go’ frequencies to many parts of our network, faster links between West Lothian and Edinburgh, as well as better local links from communities to Livingston Centre.
West Lothian 2017/18
West Lothian
Contact us First Scotland East Ltd, Carmuirs House, 300 Stirling Road, Larbert, FK5 3NJ. Twitter: @FirstScotland Facebook: First Scotland East Customer Services phone number: 0345 646 0707 Customer Services opening times: 0700-1900 Mon-Fri 0900-1700 Weekends and bank holidays Or visit firstgroup.com/south-east-and-centralscotland and select ‘Help and Contact’ Traveline Scotland: 0871 200 2233
www.firstgroup.com
Our numbers in summary
Over 4.7 million
passenger journeys per year
3.8 million miles
operated per year across our region
168 employees A total of 68 buses 1.8% growth in total passenger numbers
Over ÂŁ5 million investment in the last 3 years 9% of customers using contactless travel since launch in March 2018
First West Lothian Ltd is part of FirstGroup Plc. Our vision is to provide solutions for an increasingly congested world... keeping people moving and communities prospering.