UK Bus Awards: The Big Book of Winners 2014

THE BIG BOOK OF BIG WIN N ERS 2014

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WELCOME •

Welcome to the U K Bus Awards 2 014 A welcome from TONY DEPLEDGE,

Chairman of UK Bus Awards

o, here it is – our Big Book of Big Winners! I’m delighted that you’re working your way through this great panorama of the bus industry’s achievements. Although this is Year 19 for the UK Bus Awards Scheme, it’s my first year as Chairman – and I can tell you that it’s a great pleasure to be reminded over and over again of the hard work, dedication and innovation that goes on across the United Kingdom as operators, local authorities and suppliers find ever-more creative and innovative solutions to the delivery of high-quality, attractive and effective bus services.

Our previous Chairman, John Owen, was always keen to point out how much could be achieved when authorities and operators align their objectives and work together to benefit bus users and to attract non-users. And he was right, of course, to stress that co-operation between partners in the bus industry is the key to delivering rapid, cost-effective and successful projects that build on the knowledge, experience and competence of each of the players – as those recognised by the UK Bus Awards 2014 so clearly demonstrate.

Although John has stepped down as Chairman of UK Bus Awards, I’m grateful that he remains very active in the scheme, managing the large team of judges who assess, review and select the Bronze, Silver and Gold Winners in each of our 20 categories. The judges bring knowledge, interest and experience of the bus

industry – operators, local authorities, passenger and campaigning groups and academics alike. The skills of the judges and the rigour that they bring to the process deliver strength to the UK Bus Awards as we recognise, reward and inspire the industry – and, as in this Big Book of Big Winners, we celebrate success!

2015 will be the 20th year for UK Bus Awards – and a General Election year. The UK Bus Awards scheme shows just what can be done for our passengers and for the communities we serve. I hope that what you read here will inspire you to seek out new ideas and new projects that can be future winners – for what we celebrate here is celebrated even more by those who use our services and see at first-hand what we deliver.

Everyone whose work affects bus services across the country has an impact on the lives of all the people who live, work, visit or study in the areas we serve; it’s a great responsibility. I’m delighted at the enthusiasm and commitment that we see every year - and delighted also that UK Bus Awards is once again the great showcase for our industry. •

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CONTENTS • special Awards

7

Glasgow Games

9

Overcoming Adversity

Tech n ical & Prof es s ional Awar d s

23

Environment

26

Award for Innovation

28

Putting Passengers First: The Claudia Flanders Memorial Award Operations Awards

11

Bus Operator of the Year

12

Top City Operator

14

Top Shire Operator

16

Top Independent Operator

19

Top National Bus Depot

30

Making Buses a Better Choice: The Peter Huntley Memorial Award

32

Local Authority Bus Project Of The Year Award

35

Award for Marketing Initiative Of The Year

38

The Award for Sustained Marketing Excellence

Peopl e Awar d s

Lon d on Awar d s

41

50

42

52

Young Manager Of The Year Unsung Heroes Award

44

The Chris Moyes Memorial Award for Top National Bus Driver

London Bus Garage Of The Year Luke Rees-Pulley Charitable Trust Award for Top London Bus Driver

47

Ab o ut the UK Bus Awards

54

Sponsorship

56

Engineer Of The Year

Reflecting on the UK Bus Awards

49

58

Services To The Bus Industry

Judging the UK Bus Awards

UK B u s Awards 2 01 4 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Chairman: Tony Depledge Directors: Jamie Cash, Chris Cheek, Allan Edmondson, Ian Smith Secretary: Michael Anderson MANAG EMENT COMM IT TEE

Convenor of Judges: John Owen OBE Minute Secretary: Trevor Whelan Members: James Freeman (First West of England), Andrew Garnett (Passenger Transport Publishing), Alan Hill (ATCO), Alex Hornby (trentbarton), John Miller (Arthur J. Gallagher/QBE), Claire Walters (Bus Users UK)

PROFESSIONAL ADVISERS

Accountants: The Shepherd Partnership Administration: Pat Hartley-Gibson and Margaret Harrison (Admin24) Event Production: Noel Fletcher (Gemini) Marketing & Promotion: Ray Stenning and his team (Best Impressions) Media: Sam Crown (Markettiers4DC), Meera Rambissoon (TAS Partnership) PRODUCTION

The UK Bus Awards 2014 Souvenir Brochure – The Big Book of Big Winners – has been produced by Passenger Transport. Editor: Robert Jack

Designer: Keith Simpson (www.one-creative.com) Distribution: Courtesy of Passenger Transport, Bus and Coach Buyer, and BUSES. This publication and the UK Bus Awards logo is copyright. © The Bus Industry Awards 2014. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part without the written permission of the publisher.

The Bus Industry Awards Ltd, organisers of the UK Bus Awards, Rossholme, West End, Long Preston, Skipton, North Yorkshire bd23 4ql Telephone: 0870 900 1450. Fax: 0870 900 1480 Email: info@ukbusawards.org.uk Web: www.ukbusawards.org.uk 5

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S PECIAL

SPECIAL AWARD •

winner

B us an d Coach T r an s p or t for the 2 01 4 Com monwe alt h G am es F IRST GAMES TR AN S POR T AN D F IRST GL ASG OW

The Commonwealth Games was the largest sporting occasion ever held in Scotland, featuring almost 5,000 athletes from 71 different nations and territories. Over 1.3 million spectators attended the competitions. The transport arrangements were an unqualified success and were a major contributor to the smooth running of the whole event.

The years of planning and testing paid off and all involved - the athletes, wider Games family and the general public - enjoyed quick and reliable bus services provided by a team of operators, drawn from the whole length and breadth of the British Isles, all managed by First Games Transport and First Glasgow.

First Games Transport deployed some 580 buses and coaches for the period of the Games which between them made some 48,000 individual journeys over the 12 days. In addition, First Glasgow kept the city moving as well as providing spectator shuttle services to the 12 main venues around the city.

The Management Committee made a Special Award for the delivery of Bus and Coach Transport for the 2014 Commonwealth Games jointly to First Games Transport and First Glasgow. At the same time, it offered congratulations to the other operators who contributed to the success including Stagecoach, Translink, National Express, Go North East and Reading Buses.

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S PECIAL

OVERCOMING ADVERSITY • Sponsored by

commended

‘ K e e pi ng t h e Wes t Movi ng ’ - Dawl i s h S e a Wal l & S om e rs e t F lo odi ng R ai l R e pl ace m e n t F IRS T R AI L S UPPOR T

commended

Supporting th e com mun i t y d uring the Dawl i s h r ai l clo s ur e S TAGECOACH S OUTH WES T

Following severe overnight storms on 4th-5th February, Dawlish residents woke to find a large section of railway line destroyed, cutting off rail transport links to the rest of the south west. In response, Stagecoach introduced a range of measures to support local communities through the immediate crisis and help keep the region ‘open for business’.

The measures included: provision of free bus tickets to all families displaced from their homes; acceptance of all valid rail tickets on local bus services, allowing customers to travel at no additional cost and, at the same time, helping ease the pressure on the rail replacement bus services; substantial reductions in single and return fares across key sections of route; and adjustment of ticket zones to reduce weekly travel costs. The company gave a commitment that all these measures would last for the duration of the closure.

The judges were very impressed by the rapid action and the proactive approach, as well as the positive impact it had on the local community in a time of crisis. They therefore recommended that a special commendation should be made.

Storms in February 2014 caused major damage to the Great Western rail network, particularly the collapse of the sea wall at Dawlish, effectively cutting off rail users in Cornwall from the rest of the country. First Rail Support provided an immediate response utilising the services of many bus and coach operators to bridge the gap and keep the west moving.

The provision of these services required 166 vehicles a day, to which was added a further 44 to cover for disruption to the rail timetable caused by flood damage between Oxford and Didcot and in the Maidenhead area. A web-based control system was developed which enabled coaches to be tracked in real time, and temporary waiting and refreshment facilities were provided at several sites.

The judges were very impressed by the management and co-ordination involved in such a huge operation, by the response and concern for customers shown by the bus and coach operators who ran the services, and by all the drivers and front-line staff who kept things moving. It was another great example of the teamwork that the industry is capable of deploying to keep things moving.

Given the unprecented size of the area covered, the sheer volume of vehicles used and the network of services set up and operated at very short notice, the judges felt that the operation to keep the west moving was eminently worthy of a special commendation.

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OPERATOR

UK BUS OPERATOR OF THE YEAR • Sponsored by

This is the ‘grand prix’ of the UK Bus Awards.

Pre-eminent amongst bus operators in the UK, the UK Bus Operator of the Year, more than any other, delivers consistently excellent customer service and demonstrates its success through sustained effort over the long term.

The crème-de-lacrème, the winner of the UK Bus Operator of the Year will be selected from the highest-scoring contestants of the awards for Top Independent Operator, Top Shire Operator and Top City operator.

GOLD

winner

NOT T I NG HAM CI T Y T R AN S POR T

SILVER winner

R E ADING BU SES

The achievements of Reading Buses in the UK Bus Awards continue to be huge, despite once again just being pipped at the post for the title of UK Bus Operator of the Year. The margin of the results on the mystery traveller score was indeed very close.

Even so, the company has won the title of Top Shire Operator for three years in a row, and been runner up in the overall national contest each time.

The judges were once again hugely impressed by the company’s proactive relationships with its local authority, customers and staff, and its commitment to environmental initiatives, not least in its major investment in both electric hybrid and gas buses.

Any customer service business which achieves a 94% overall customer satisfaction rate, as Reading did in the recent Passenger Focus survey, is doing a seriously good job, and well worthy of recognition.

Nottingham City Transport’s strong track record of investment, growth and commercial innovation hugely impressed the judges - and the proof of the pudding came in some excellent mystery traveller scores. The Nottingham bus network continues to enjoy some of the highest ridership per head anywhere in England outside London. The company’s successful partnership with the local authorities and other stakeholders has enabled the business to grow its customer base for 13 years in a row, enabling it to create a virtuous circle of investment, growth, staff training and rising quality - despite the uncertainties caused by economic troubles and the disruption of tramway construction.

The judges praised these very significant achievements.

BRONZE winner

E N S IG N B U S

Ensignbus is in many ways a unique business, with its mixture of bus and heritage operations, a fleet which blends the best of the old with a commitment to technological innovation, and its high levels of punctuality and reliability. This is challenging territory, with high levels of car ownership and major congestion problems. Despite this, the company continues to grow its market and achieve some excellent results in our mystery traveller checks.

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OPERATOR

TOP CITY OPERATOR • Sponsored by

This award is open to operators of registered bus services based in, or operating wholly or mainly in the former metropolitan county areas and other major cities with populations of more than 250,000.

GOLD

winner

NOT T I NGHAM CI T Y T R ANS P ORT

SILVER winner

Nottingham City Transport’s investment in bus services across Nottingham continues to pay dividends. Operating 345 vehicles from three depots, with 830 drivers, NCT has achieved high passenger satisfaction at 95%, with revenue growth up 3% and commercial patronage up 4% in the last year. A £17m investment in 73 new buses in two years has increased capacity on core routes, through bigger buses and frequency enhancements. Noting growth in passenger numbers and revenue has continued for the 13th consecutive year despite major road works, increased local bus competition and no longer operating the tram franchise, the judges were particularly impressed

by NCT’s substantial investment in upgrading and improving commercial services and the recent Grade 1 OFSTED inspection rating for staff training.

S TAGECOACH MANCHES TE R

Stagecoach Manchester’s investment in staff, services and the local community has contributed to continuous passenger and revenue growth for 13 consecutive years and strong passenger satisfaction levels. Carrying 103 million passengers in 2013/14, the company operates a fleet of 900 plus vehicles from six depots across Greater Manchester and employs more than 1,800 staff. The company’s commercial and marketing initiatives, epitomised by the provision of a company-funded £3 million park-and-ride site at Hazel Grove, impressed the judges on top of high-quality operational reliability and punctuality despite Manchester’s ‘big city’ traffic problems.

Stagecoach Manchester’s commitment to and ongoing record on green issues and technology also stood out.

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BRONZE winner

ARRIVA MERSEYSIDE

Arriva Merseyside’s ongoing improvement in reliability and punctuality despite the loss of city centre bus lanes in Liverpool is a great credit to the company, which employs approximately 2,000 people, operating 632 buses from six depots. People-focused, on both employees and passengers, Arriva Merseyside achieves more than 54 million passenger journeys a year. The judges were particularly impressed by the company’s commitment to commercial, environmental, M-Ticketing and social media initiatives, supported by strong investment in new vehicles and sound operational management, all of which have contributed to continued growth.

FINALIST

S TAGECOACH NOR T H E AS T

Stagecoach North East’s commitment to high operational standards is reflected in its customer satisfaction scores, despite operating in one of the most challenging economic climates in the UK, recent political pressures and resulting public relations issues. Employing more than 1,400 staff, the company operates across Hartlepool, Newcastle, South Shields, Sunderland and Teesside. Stagecoach’s emphasis on commercial initiatives including its innovative ‘Back on Board’ and ‘VIP’ schemes for jobseekers and young people particularly appealed to the judges, as did a strong environmental record from new gas buses and depot processes, and its training and development regime.

FINALIST

NATIONAL EXPR ESS WEST MIDL AN D S

National Express West Midlands has raised its service offer and improved customer experience with commercial, environmental and other initiatives such as the innovative ‘Transforming Bus Travel’ partnership with Centro and its Master Driver training accredited by the Institute of Advanced Motoring. Operating more than 1,700 vehicles from 10 depots across the West Midlands, the company of more than 5,500 staff impressed the judges with its progress and initiatives, which have led to improvements of 7% in punctuality and 8% in passenger satisfaction. National Express West Midlands has also seen a 2% passenger increase on commercial services and 5% where network reviews have taken place.

FINALIST

G O NOR T H E AS T

Go North East has continued to invest, innovate and grow its business despite the challenging economic climate of the north east and political sensitivities, operating a fleet of nearly 700 vehicles from 10 depots, with more than 2,100 employees. New technology in communications, pricing and delivery of services, has allowed the company to refine the commercial initiatives for which it already had an enviable reputation. Go North East’s industry-leading, fully-responsive website, usable on all types of device, particularly appealed to the judges. A 90% passenger satisfaction score in the latest Passenger Focus survey and improvements in areas such as value for money, passenger wait time and punctuality also demonstrated its commitment to top-class customer service.

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OPERATOR

TOP SHIRE OPERATOR • Sponsored by

The award for operators in the shire areas of the UK, covering all areas outside our major cities.

GOLD

winner

RE ADI NG B U S ES

SILVER winner

Reading Buses is proud of keeping Reading moving with its network of vividly-coloured buses and an amazing team of more than 400 customer-facing staff. While running a fleet of 150-plus vehicles, the company places customers at the heart of everything it does. Despite challenges of town redevelopment and road works, the company has continued to innovate both commercially and operationally and provide a very high quality of service, evidenced by a 94% overall customer satisfaction rate, the best in England, in the recent Passenger Focus surveys, all of which impressed the judges. The company’s proactive relationships with its local authority, customers and staff, and its commitment to environmental initiatives, not least in its major investment in both electric hybrid and gas buses, also shone out.

METROBU S

Since registering a commercial network in Crawley in 2001, Metrobus has seen unprecedented growth, including the introduction of the highly praised ‘Fastway’ service. The company now operates more than 150 buses throughout West Sussex, Surrey and Kent, and is proud of its reputation for quality, investment and customer service, confirmed by a 91% satisfaction rate in the latest Passenger Focus surveys.

The company’s continuing ability to grow bus use substantially through simple networks with increased frequencies in towns like Horsham and Crawley where previous operators had progressively reduced service levels appealed to the judges.

Use of social media and new technology, its customer service training course ‘Going the Extra Mile’, and policies on flexible working for staff and attracting new employees from ethnic minorities also stood out.

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BRONZE winner

T R AVE L DE CO URCE Y

Travel de Courcey is a family business that has grown substantially in a short time, and now operates 130 vehicles from three depots across the Midlands, Coventry, Warwickshire and Leicestershire, with 300-plus staff. Traditional values coupled with industry-leading levels of service, technological innovation and a firm focus on the environment have enabled Travel de Courcey to develop into a company recognised as one of the Stock Exchange’s ‘Top 1,000 Companies to Inspire Great Britain’. The judges were particularly impressed by the company’s emphasis on customers and other stakeholders, such as its ‘Heroes’ awards for staff celebrating their achievements where photos and a summary of why they are a ‘hero’ are displayed on buses.

FINALIST

F I RST YOR K

First York has undergone a significant transformation over the last 12 months with a new network, reduced fares, improved reliability, and a renewed vigour in focussing on its customers. These ingredients have led to a recipe of substantial increase in passenger numbers, with 15,000 more journeys being made each week on the network of more than 100 vehicles. The judges were especially impressed by First York’s ‘Ambassadors in Action’ programme to encourage drivers to take ownership of customer service issues and its close relationship with the City of York that has resulted in significant Better Bus Areas funding for public transport in the city.

FINALIST

MOREBUS

morebus, part of Go South Coast, has carried out major rebranding over the last two years to produce a high quality network in Bournemouth and Poole. The modernisation of the previous brand and the change of emphasis in its approach to staff, customers and the service it provides have led to substantial growth in patronage, and changed public perception towards the bus. The judges were impressed by the company’s emphasis on the bus stop as its ‘shop window’, high visibility jackets for staff branded ‘ask me more’, its close relationships with stakeholders over services and minimising the implications of funding cuts, and its developing staff training and recognition programme.

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OPERATOR

TOP INDEPENDENT OPERATOR • Sponsored by

This award is for smaller bus companies with fleets of fewer than 100 vehicles, not owned by a public limited company (plc) or holding company which owns three or more bus operating subsidiaries.

GOLD

winner

E NSIG N BUS

Ensignbus shines out for running its fully commercial network of services in difficult operating territory in and around Thurrock. Despite being an area traditionally considered to have low potential for public transport use, extremely high levels of reliability and punctuality have enabled the company to achieve a substantial increase in passenger numbers. The judges were impressed by the company’s commitment to its customers and staff, its development of technology to improve its services and the environment, its ability to ‘move fast’ in the event of any disruption on the road or rail networks, and its general entrepreneurial approach to all bus issues.

SILVER winner

I PSWICH B U S ES

Ipswich Buses is an operator with a reputation for providing a steady, good quality bus operation, reflected by a high customer satisfaction score of 93% in the most recent Passenger Focus survey, the second highest in England. Operating a fleet of nearly 90 vehicles throughout Ipswich and employing more than 200 staff, the company impressed the judges with its new customer service strategy. The strategy includes benchmarking against successful organisations within and outside the transport sector, proactive use of social media, methods of consultation with customers, and a number of new commercial initiatives to grow passenger numbers such as much improved links to out-of-town centres and its Sunday ‘Happy Hour’.

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BRONZE winner

COM PAS S T R AVE L (S USSE X )

Compass Travel runs a 60-strong bus fleet in East and West Sussex, Brighton and into Surrey and employs nearly 200 staff. The company has improved turnover and profitability not least by its record in identifying new markets, whether commercial routes, tendered services for a range of public bodies, franchise services for a major bus group or school contracts.

Compass Travel’s ability to mix work and spread cost to enable it to thrive in such a broad spectrum of operation appealed to the judges, as did its investment in new vehicles and technology, a strong customer focus and close partnership with other stakeholders.

FINALIST

FINALIST

PRENTICE COACHES

CO URT N E Y B U S ES

Originally a coach company, family-owned Prentice Coaches has expanded its bus operation in East Lothian in recent years. Offering high quality operation, an innovative approach to tendered services, Prentice is eager to try new commercial service initiatives and prides itself on making a profit in each year it has traded since 1991. The judges were impressed by the company’s customer service ethos, its use of social media and its app, marketed as ‘App-Prentice’. The app allows interaction via smartphones and tablets with Prentice’s real time information system which the judges noted is provided without cost to the local councils, unusual for a small independent company.

Courtney Buses has traditionally operated services to business parks and a number of local authorities in addition to providing a town network in Maidenhead.

However, 2014 has seen the business expand after winning contracts. The result has been a 20% increase in the fleet size - 11 new buses including electric hybrid vehicles. Owner Bill Courtney attributes the company's success to the hard work of all his helpful and enthusiastic staff of nearly 90, stringent health and safety assessments and newly designed CPC courses.

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OPERATOR

TOP NATIONAL BUS DEPOT • Sponsored by

This award is designed to recognise and reward high standards of operation and customer care throughout the UK. The award is open to bus depots or garages which operate buses on local bus services outside London.

The award will be made to the location which, in the opinion of the judges, delivers the highest operational standards to its customers.

GOLD

winner

Cr awl e y M E T ROB U S

Since registering a commercial network in Crawley in 2001 when the existing operator declared that its current operations in the town were unviable, Metrobus’ Crawley Depot now operates a fleet of 135 buses throughout West Sussex, Surrey and Kent and employs some 350 staff.

From a high level of staff training such as ‘Going the Extra Mile’, a strong social media presence focusing on Crawley depot operations, with 14,700 Facebook followers, to investing in real time information, the depot has an enviable reputation for quality, investment and customer service. The judges agreed the depot consistently sets standards for others to emulate.

SILVER winner

Gotham NOT TINGHAM CIT Y TRAN SPORT

NCT prides the team at its Gotham Depot for constantly going the ‘extra mile’ for their passengers, especially at a time when local residents face disruption and upheaval from road widening and tram works.

Real time tracking on all buses and measures such as re-writing timetables to reflect the disruption has helped the depot to run 99.6% of scheduled mileage, and keep around 90% of buses on time. From fundraising and sponsorship, to naming buses after local fallen heroes, NCT’s smallest depot of around 45 vehicles and 100 staff goes to great lengths to continually look after its big, extended ‘family’ and the strong community links of this long-established depot particularly appealed to the judges.

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OPERATIONAL

TOP NATIONAL BUS DEPOT • BRONZE winner

B ly t h AR R IVA NOR T H E AS T

Blyth Depot has more than 150 staff and prides itself on being an exceptional operation with outstanding commitment to its passengers, employees and the community it serves. Consistency is key to the operation. With a fleet of 50-plus buses, lost mileage is just 0.26 and a punctuality score of 87% in 2013 have seen its standards maintained a cross its operation.

Meanwhile, the ‘It’s alive, it’s electric’ campaign by Arriva, saw local people and drivers involved in promoting the group's new journey planner app which was rolled out first in the north east in January this year. The judges were impressed by the depot’s full engagement with the community as well as the level of service which Blyth continues to deliver.

FINALIST

FINALIST

N e wp or t S O U T H E R N VEC T I S

FINALIST

Rotherham F IRST SOU TH YORKSH IR E

Rotherham Depot has been transforming its operation of more than 100 buses to deliver consistent and improved quality of service and significantly higher customer satisfaction under the slogan “Rotherham, where everyone matters.”

Following rigorous attention to detail by the team of around 315 staff and having challenged every area where performance was in need of attention, one of Rotherham’s biggest achievements has been a 20% improvement in punctuality over the last two years, reaching 93% in 2013. The team celebrated 2% year-on-year growth in customer numbers in December 2013, and 2014 has shown 3,000 extra journeys per week on the Rotherham network compared to the same time last year, impressing the judges with the progress the depot has made.

Home to more than 400 staff and nearly 130 buses operating across the Isle of Wight, Newport Depot has undergone an ongoing programme of listening and acting on feedback from its customers and staff over the past 12 months. The result is an increase in overall customer satisfaction of 5%, staff engagement by 12% and journey numbers by 4.9% year on year.

Operating 99.82% of scheduled mileage over the past year has been achieved by proactive management of the network by the control team, who make extensive use of social media to keep customers informed of potential disruption via friendly and familiar messages.

The judges were impressed that Newport is delivering consistently good standards across its operations.

Bal fron FI RS T SCOTL AN D E AS T

Balfron Depot is located in the heart of rural Stirlingshire. Services provided by its 30plus employees allow customers in isolated villages to access local shopping, education and leisure facilities as well as commuter links to the major employment centres of Stirling and Glasgow with a fleet of over 20 buses. High operational standards and an understanding of customers’ needs are central to the depot’s efforts and lost mileage - a key focus given the dispersed nature of the customer base - has been 0.8 for the past two years. The judges felt the number of staff and its largely rural catchment gave Balfron a distinctive feel and they were impressed by the depot’s team spirit.

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T ECHNICAL & PROFESS IONAL

ENVIRONMENT • Sponsored by

This award is presented to the scheme which, in the opinion of the judges, constitutes the best contribution by a bus operator, authority, manufacturer or any group or individual within those organisations to one or more of the following: Q Further improving the environmental friendliness of the bus; Q Improving the environment in which buses operate; Q Improving the environment for bus users and potential users.

GOLD

winner

Car b on S mar t Projec t F I RS T UK B U S

FirstGroup’s plan to create competition amongst bus manufacturers in vehicle efficiency is coming to fruition through its Carbon Smart project. FirstGroup’s comprehensive fuel economy testing of dozens of buses at Millbrook Proving Ground has triggered significant improvements, most notably Wrightbus’ StreetLite Micro Hybrid bus - increasing fuel efficiency by 30%. The group has also worked with Volvo and ZF to develop more efficient gear box software which has largely become standard on all new vehicles fitted with ZF transmissions. The judges recognised the initiative as a genuine attempt to measure fuel efficiency to benefit the whole industry; while electric buses are making headway, a substantial diesel-powered fleet will be in service for many more years.

SILVER winner

Electric Bus Projec t NOT TI NGHAM CIT Y COUNCIL

Nottingham City Council introduced its Electric Bus Partnership in September 2012 to help reach its target of cutting CO2 levels in 2005 by 26% by 2020 and benefit from cost savings over diesel buses. 28 fully electric buses are now operated by partners trentbarton on Centrelink services and Nottingham City Transport on Localink, with 22 more due by September 2015 including a Medilink to key hospitals and a Park & Ride. The vehicles offer 30% CO2 reductions while fuel and servicing cost savings of 85% have enabled the Council to maintain its tendered bus network.

The judges were impressed by the sustained effort to increase the electric bus fleet in Nottingham, along with ambitious targets.

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T ECHNICAL & PROF ESS IONAL

ENVIRONMENT • FINALIST

Ye l low Buses G o Green WES T YORKSHI RE ’S COM BI NED AU T HORI T Y

The West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s Yellow Buses Go Green project has used funding from the DfT’s Cleaner Bus Technology Fund to retrofit emission reduction technologies to the exhausts of 119 yellow school bus vehicles to reduce harmful emissions. The project also extends the life of the vehicles through match funding from the WYCA to refurbish vehicles and introduce driver performance technology. The DfT has acknowledged the project as one of the best performing projects of the fund from its handson project management to sharing best practice.

The judges were impressed by the use of grant funding to achieve positive outcomes, with a 97% reduction in NOx emissions.

BRONZE winner

Milton Keynes E l ec t r ic B u s Projec t ARRIVA SHIR ES & ESSE X

Following replacement of seven diesel buses with eight fully electric buses on its route 7 in Milton Keynes, Arriva prides its five-year trial on the innovation and uniqueness of wireless charging. Charging plates set in the road mean vehicles are in service seven days a week, for up to 17 hours a day and are able to rival the independence of diesel buses. Aiming to prove the commercial viability of low carbon transport, the project is expected to reduce particulates and noxious tailpipe emissions by five tonnes each year and CO2 by 270 tonnes. The judges appreciated that a substantial amount of operational experience from the project will benefit the wider industry.

FINALIST

Lu ton D un s tab l e B u sway LUTON B ORO U G H CO UNCIL

FINALIST

The Volvo 79 0 0EH Electric Hybrid Bus VOLVO BU S

The Volvo Electric Hybrid Bus has extended hybrid technology by using mains electricity to charge an enlarged battery at the ends of the route and in the depot via a roof-mounted charging system. The effect is to reduce tailpipe, CO2 emissions and noise while the extended electric-only range will enable bus stops to be located inside shopping centres and bus stations. Five projects are being developed across Europe including a proposal in the UK and the trial of three buses in Gothenburg, where diesel consumption has reduced by 80% compared to a conventional bus and overall energy consumption by 60%. With the rise of electric buses on the industry agenda, the judges were impressed by the significant development of the technology.

Seeking to tackle problems of congestion along the Luton - Dunstable corridor and provide an attractive alternative to the car, Luton Borough Council has transformed the disused Luton-Dunstable railway into a fast-track Busway in partnership with Central Bedfordshire. The councils have worked with English Nature, the Wildlife Trust and local groups to mitigate environmental impacts and the scheme has resulted in a 9% modal shift in Dunstable and a 23% increase in cycling, attributed to the shared-use path. The judges agreed that the busway is a very good scheme and looked forward to it delivering its full potential to influence modal shift in a major way in this highly congested area.

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T ECHNICAL & PROFESS IONAL

AWARD FOR INNOVATION • Sponsored by

This is the category which recognises and rewards new thinking in the industry - amongst operators, authorities and suppliers. It focuses especially on products which can reduce improve efficiency or make bus travel more attractive.

GOLD

winner

M i lton K e yn es E l ec t r ic B us Project AR R IVA T H E S H I R ES & ES S E X

Following replacement of seven diesel buses with eight fully electric buses on its route 7 in Milton Keynes, Arriva prides its five-year trial on the innovation of wireless charging. Charging plates set in the road mean the prototype vehicles are in service seven days a week, for up to 17 hours a day. Arriva also values the innovative approach of collaboration with partners, including the University of Cambridge who will undertake analysis of batteries data, charging points, feedback from drivers, customers, engineers and the local authority to assess success. The judges agreed this is a truly innovative project with huge potential.

SILVER winner

Delivering a Cas h - f r e e B u s N e t wor k i n Lon d on T RANSPOR T FOR LON D ON

Transport for London is leading the way in removing cash from the bus network.

Cash ceased being collected by drivers from July 2014, on the basis that 99% of bus users already use pre-paid Oyster cards, on-the-day contactless bankcard payments or concessionary passes. A series of safeguards were rolled out to make the transition as simple, seamless and straightforward as possible, including a ‘one more journey’ feature for Oyster Pay As You Go users. The judges recognised the advantages that cashless ticketing could bring. The industry was likely to move in this direction but it was important it should do so in a way that does not deter people from travelling.

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BRONZE winner

First’s Bet ter J o ur n e y Car d FIRST WEST OF E NGL AN D

First West of England has developed an innovative Better Journey Card to give people with disabilities a way of communicating their needs to drivers easily and discreetly - from help finding a seat to advice on how best to communicate with them. The cards are a result of extensive consultation with disability groups and frontline staff training, and anecdotal evidence suggests they have helped reduce anxiety felt by disabled bus users and increased confidence that their needs will be met. The idea has been rolled out to other operators and adopted by the CPT through its ‘Journey Assistance Card’. The judges felt this to be an exceptionally useful exercise, which helps to reduce social exclusion.

FINALIST

m eg ab u s G ol d.com S TAG ECOACH

Stagecoach’s megabusGold.com service, launched in July 2013, uses bespoke vehicles with seats converting into lie-flat beds, to provide customers with a new travel option: luxury daytime coach travel and overnight sleepercoach services. Within four months of being introduced, services were operating at more than 80% capacity and following a customer feedback survey, 34% said they previously travelled by train and 24% by plane. The product has also received high profile media coverage. The judges were impressed with megabusGold as an interesting and logical development of the original megabus concept and recognised the level of innovation and investment.

FINALIST

FINALIST

Transport for E di n b urg h Of f icial Ticket App, wi t h m - t ick e t i ng LOTHIAN BUS ES

Lothian Buses has produced a feature-rich app which collects, simplifies and personalises key service information and enables mobile ticketing for its bus services. Updated to include tram services under the umbrella of Transport for Edinburgh, the TfE app provides real-time information, dynamic journey planning, next stop alerts and tap-to-speak assistive technology. The app was Scotland’s first public transport m-ticketing platform and offers a comprehensive range of ticket types. The functionality of this app appealed to the judges who noted its success in a relatively short space of time - used by an average of around 10,000 users a day in just over six months.

Mob i l e T ick e ts for B u s es BARCL AYS BAN K

Recognising the mass-market penetration of smartphones in the marketplace, Barclays launched a pioneering application which allows customers to select, purchase, download and display bus tickets directly via their phone. The app combines innovative ticketing technology developed by the company’s partner Corethree with Barclays Pingit, the mobile payment app from Barclays, available to smartphone users. Current services cover areas including Cardiff, Bath, Birmingham, Manchester, Burnley, Blackburn as well as other parts of Lancashire, and this is due to extend to most UK towns and cities by 2015. Another positive development in mobile ticketing, the judges felt this product had significant potential for growth.

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T ECHNICAL & PROF ESS IONAL

PUTTING PASSENGERS FIRST: THE CLAUDIA FLANDERS MEMORIAL AWARD • Sponsored by

The late Claudia Flanders, widow of entertainer Michael Flanders, was advisor on disability to the National Bus Company. In 1987, in memory of her husband, she established Tripscope to help disabled and elderly people solve their travel mobility problems.

The UK Bus Awards has recognised and rewarded improvements in the accessibility of the bus in Claudia’s memory since 1999 through a special award for accessibility.

The improvements for those with a mobility impairment have delivered benefits for all bus users, and helped to shape wider improvements in the industry’s approach to its customers.

Through seeking to highlight best practice and improvements in genuinely putting passengers first, this award recognises their achievement, and seeks to encourage even more innovation and hard work in this field.

GOLD

winner

T r ansforming B u s T ravel Par t nership Plus CE N T RO - WMP TA

SILVER winner

I nves t i ng i n o ur cu s tom e rs G O NOR T H E AS T

Despite the difficult north east economy, Go North East has not been content to rest on its reputation for service and innovation, but has continued to implement initiatives both in service provision and the way that it interacts with its customers.

The way the company uses new technology to help put passengers first appealed to the judges, as did the way customer feedback is collected on a daily basis through social media and via its customer service team - and then acted upon. An extensive market research programme backs up this approach with an on-line passenger panel, targeted research, and mystery traveller checks and Passenger Focus customer satisfaction scores of over 90% reflect the success of the company’s approach.

Following the success of the ‘Transforming Bus Travel’ partnership between Centro, National Express and other bus operators in the West Midlands which surpassed every target, the project was enhanced and expanded in 2013.

Partnership Plus is a shared vision to improve bus travel through a high-quality, accessible bus network, enabling patronage to grow each year and contributing to the economy and wellbeing of the region. The success brought about by a real involvement of stakeholders and the mechanisms to put passengers first impressed the judges, with a 7% improvement in punctuality, an 8% gain in customer satisfaction scores in the recent Passenger Focus surveys and an increase in passenger numbers.

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FINALIST

T h e Arriva Ang els AR R IVA YOR KSHI R E

The Arriva Angels are a select group of bus drivers, from Arriva’s north east and Yorkshire depots, who have been given added responsibility to promote outstanding customer service, go over and above to help and assist passengers in need and provide a direct form of communication on services and products.

Thought to be a first in the industry, the dedication and commitment of the Angels has been rewarded with a significant increase of between 7% and 15% in customer satisfaction scores at all of the depots measured since their appointment. The judges were impressed with the initiative, where drivers exceed the normal levels of interaction and make a real difference to the journey experience of passengers.

BRONZE winner

Lothian Buses Taking Custom e r Service to the n ext level LOTHIAN BUSES

After carrying out a detailed review of its approach to customers, Lothian Buses’ aim was to take the overall experience for them to a new level in preparation for initiatives such as its new information and ticketing app, and m-ticketing. The company integrated the teams covering its travel shops and customer service to create a seamless experience wherever customer interface occurred. The judges were impressed with how Lothian Buses enhanced its already impressive customer service ethos, even among those who are not directly customerfacing, noting its 96% customer satisfaction score in recent Passenger Focus surveys - the best in the UK.

FINALIST

‘All Ab oar d ! ’ TR ANS P OR T FOR LON D ON

Transport for London and accessibility charities Transport for All and Age UK, came together in 2013 to develop a new awareness training programme for all 24,500 London bus drivers. The interactive programme called ‘All Aboard’ is designed to give London bus drivers a greater understanding of the needs of older and disabled passengers, building on TfL’s on-going commitment to making London’s bus network easier to access for these passenger groups. The practicality of the training and how highly interactive it is, encouraging drivers to get involved and giving them a strong and real understanding of the issues, particularly appealed to the judges.

FINALIST

G e t t i ng Ch es t e r back on t h e b u s S TAGECOACH M E RS E YS I DE

Since the acquisition of the former First Bus business in Chester in January 2013, Stagecoach has transformed and re-launched the city service network, offering enhanced service levels, newer, greener buses, lower fares and improved marketing. With the aim of ‘Getting Chester Back on the Bus’, the company engaged proactively with a wide range of stakeholders and, as a result, has changed the perception of the bus in the area, as well as improving training and facilities for its staff. The resulting 12%, and still growing, increase in passenger numbers in just 18 months impressed the judges.

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T ECHNICAL & PROF ESSIONAL

MAKING BUSES A BETTER CHOICE: THE PETER HUNTLEY MEMORIAL AWARD • Sponsored by

Peter Huntley had a long career in public transport, working in transport co-ordination for local authorities, as a consultant at The TAS Partnership, as a journalist and writer, and as an inspirational managing director of a bus company, Go North East, between 2006 and 2011. He was tragically killed in a climbing accident in February 2012 at the age of 55.

Peter helped to found the UK Bus Awards in 1995 and this award is dedicated to his memory as the category that best represents the breadth of his interests and his passion for excellence.

GOLD

winner

zo om - mak i ng b u s es b e t t e r t h e q uick way TR E N TBAR TON

trentbarton’s Long Eaton to Derby market was already served by frequent buses on its ‘indigo’ service, with air-conditioning, leather seats and friendly drivers. When research indicated customers wanted a faster alternative, the company introduced ‘zoom’ which has been an instant success. 30% of people have said they travel more often, 98% have commented “it has made buses better” and the company has achieved a market share of 60% despite supplying only 33% of the frequency. The judges were extremely impressed that trentbarton did not simply sit back and reap the rewards of its existing ‘indigo’ service but bravely took the risk of effectively competing against itself by overlaying a new service with the potential to abstract passengers and revenue.

SILVER winner

pi n k s hu t t l e - b e t t e r for everyone RE ADI NG B U S ES

Listening to customers and cutting fares really does work, Reading Buses has shown in transforming the once dwindling, hourly 27 bus to Lower Caversham into a pink shuttle service. Reading Buses not only persevered with this loss-making service but, following extensive consultation with customers, bravely invested in new buses with the latest technology, reduced the key single fare to £1, and made the service more frequent, efficient and reliable. The result was 13% more passengers in the first year and a service that is now commercial. This shone out to the judges as an excellent example of how a strong local authority partnership, high trip rates and getting the core network right can turn marginal services into a success story.

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BRONZE winner

Lu ton D un s tab l e B u sway LU TON B ORO U G H CO UNCIL

Bus services along the Luton/Dunstable corridor were suffering from severe congestion across eastwest routes and viewed as infrequent and unreliable.

To tackle the problem, Luton Borough Council has transformed the disused Luton-Dunstable railway into a fast-track Busway - more than halving crossconurbation journey times and leading to high passenger satisfaction on frequency and journey times and 9% modal shift in Dunstable. The judges were impressed that the scheme was already bringing about a significant increase in bus use and changing the perception of public transport and felt it had the potential to encourage much greater modal shift in this congested area.

FINALIST

Arriva Watfor d - Pe r f ec t 1 0 ARRIVA THE SHIR ES & ESSE X

Working with Hertfordshire County Council, Arriva the Shires & Essex has revamped its route 10, a core service in Watford. Effective partnership has led to a package of measures including improved value for money ticketing, higher service frequency and more efficient operation, supported by clever and effective marketing. The result is impressive patronage growth: 23% in the first year against a target of 10% and the figure is still growing. The strong marketing impact of using the number 10 - 10 new buses for service 10, a 10-minute frequency, £10 for a week’s unlimited travel or £10 for 10 single trips and publicity on and off-bus highlighting 10 good reasons for using the bus particularly appealed to the judges.

FINALIST

F i rs t G l as gow’s s i m pliCI T Y N e t wor k F I RS T G L ASG OW

First Glasgow has developed a brand new network, simpliCITY, to transform Glasgow’s services and attract more customers. Changes to make the network easier to understand were coupled with the company’s biggest ever marketing campaign: corridor guides to over a million households, £3.8m in money-off vouchers, a TV campaign, and new customer newsletter, SHOUT! The judges were impressed with the extent of research and consultation undertaken and the scale of the project in terms of financial investment, service provision and performance, fares initiatives, and marketing and publicity. The company’s positive response to customer feedback has achieved significant growth in passenger numbers of 4.2% and improved passenger satisfaction, with 91% scored overall.

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T ECHNICAL & PROF ESS IONAL

LOCAL AUTHORITY BUS PROJECT OF THE YEAR AWARD • Sponsored by

FINALIST

Por tsmouth Par k & Ride POR TSMOUTH CI T Y CO UNCIL

The performance of most bus services is critically affected by local authority policies on traffic management, parking and road network development, as well as land use and the relative importance placed on the needs of public transport compared to other priorities.

Even in these times of austerity, it is possible for authorities working either separately or in partnership with operators and other stakeholders to deliver projects that can improve local bus services.

GOLD

winner

B us T r acke r SES tr an SESTR AN

Building on the success of Edinburgh’s BusTracker real-time information system and responding to demand from passengers, SEStran has developed the technology to cover eight local authority areas across an area of three thousand square miles in south east Scotland, and feed direct into Traveline. The project delivers bus times, disruption and accessibility information as well as associated web, mobile and app services. Extremely impressed by the geographic coverage SEStran has achieved, the judges considered the scale of the initiative sets it apart and makes it a model of what can be delivered through constructive partnership, despite a current challenging financial environment.

Portsmouth’s new Park & Ride at Tipner opened in April 2014 adjacent to a new junction on the M275 and forms part of the wider transport strategy to support the city’s regeneration and growth. Use of the scheme grew very quickly in its first few weeks and extremely high satisfaction scores have translated into repeat customers. The judges were impressed by the combination of many high quality features that have been applied successfully with Park & Ride and other bus schemes elsewhere, supported by enhanced bus priority ensuring quick journeys for those who use the facility.

SILVER winner

Lu ton D un s tab l e B u sway LU TON B ORO U G H CO UNCI L

BRONZE winner

L e wes Road Su s tai nab l e T ransport Cor r i d or BRIGHTON & HOVE CIT Y COUNCIL

The Lewes Road Sustainable Transport Corridor links Brighton city centre to the two local universities and the Amex Community Football Stadium in the north of the city. The project has converted a 4.5km dual carriageway into a single carriageway for general traffic alongside a dedicated bus lane with better facilities for cyclists, reconfigured junctions and new ‘floating bus stops’ to remove bus and cycle conflicts. The judges were impressed with the combination of a broad range of ideas to encourage greater use of more sustainable forms of travel - enabling not only faster, more reliable bus journeys in both directions but already increasing bus patronage by 7% in under nine months.

To tackle severe traffic congestion and resulting delays to bus services on the Luton-Dunstable corridor, Luton Borough Council converted a disused railway line into a busway to present an attractive alternative to car use. Despite the long development time, the judges were impressed with the project as a successful partnership and how it had more than halved previous journey times, with multi-operator ticketing, smartcards and increased frequencies.

The scheme has recorded strong customer satisfaction scores with 9% of Busway users transferring from the car.

FINALIST

B e ach B u s N E W FOR ES T NAT IONAL PARK AUTHORI T Y

Beach Bus was introduced in 2013 as part of a group of initiatives with Go South Coast to promote car-free visitor travel in the New Forest and to its coast. It has developed into a popular summer holiday service that links to train, ferry and other bus services including the flagship New Forest open top tours. Use of eyecatching ‘retro’ imagery, video, use of social media and Google adwords, discounts at attractions and even free ice creams appealed to the judges. The service has raised the profile of the bus as a fun way to travel, as well as providing renewed access to one or two isolated communities and positive feedback and passenger numbers, increased by 400% in its second year, go to show the scheme’s success.

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The TAS Partnership 25 years of progress Passionate about moving passenger transport forwards with 25 years of knowledge and data

Proud to offer Q fresh insight Q considered analysis and Q robust advice to a talented, inspiring and innovative sector – ǡ ϐ and entrants in the 2014 UK Bus Awards

www.taspartnership.co.uk 01772 204988

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T ECHNICAL & PROF ESSIONAL

THE AWARD FOR MARKETING INITIATIVE OF THE YEAR • Sponsored by

This award is for successful promotional ideas and campaigns which get the message about services over to the target market by advertising, PR activity or sales promotion schemes.

It’s about creating an impact, winning ‘hearts and minds’, creating or developing a strong brand or improving the image of bus travel, and helping to change public perceptions and/or consumer behaviour.

GOLD

winner

S k eg n es s S e as i de rs STAGECOACH E AST M I DL AN D S

Stagecoach’s Skegness Seasiders are six individual liveried open top buses presented as named characters with classic seaside themes. In addition to providing transport between the top tourist destinations of Skegness and Ingoldmells, the buses have quickly become attractions in their own right amongst children by using story books, giveaways, and incentives for children and their families to travel on all six individual buses. The judges were impressed by this original approach to both the product and the marketing process, and felt the scheme provides a number of top quality ideas that can be used to re-invigorate not just this type of seasonal service but marginal commercial services generally.

SILVER winner

Fai r e r Far es , B r i s tol Far e Con s ultat ion F I RS T WES T OF E NG L AN D

First West of England ran its biggest ever campaign: to develop simpler, fairer fares in Bristol and improve its image, using eye-catching, new style marketing materials to deliver clear messages and a high level of awareness. Following extensive consultation on the cost of travel, the marketing campaign around the outcomes included a dedicated website, roadshows and a month-long advertising campaign. The judges were particularly impressed with First’s use of integrated marketing and public relations techniques to engage with its target audience in a really effective way and its brave approach in embarking on such a process. As a result of the feedback and consequent changes, First has successfully altered perceptions about bus services in Bristol and encouraged 15% year-on-year growth.

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T ECHNICAL & PROF ESSIONAL

THE AWARD FOR MARKETING INITIATIVE OF THE YEAR • BRONZE winner

N ightbus Hom e saf e Midnight to 4 . 3 0am LOTHIAN BU SES

Lothian Buses launched a fully revised NightBus service under a new brand identity in July 2013, after listening to customer and driver feedback. A broad multi-channel campaign was rolled out over six months with promotional activity increased over Christmas to capitalise on Edinburgh City Centre’s busiest period of late night travel. The result was a 48% increase in NightBus passenger numbers and an established brand reflecting safe and reliable night-time transport. From initial market research to clever and intensive marketing of the revamped product - not least countering the perception of anti-social behaviour associated with late-night travel - the judges felt this was a textbook model of how to re-launch a network of bespoke services.

FINALIST

X 1 / 1 /1b - people di sappearing e ve ry 15 minutes AR R IVA NORTH E AS T

FINALIST

First Bus (Nor t h R eg ion ) Student Campaig n F IRST UK BU S (NORTH REGION )

Tapping into the challenges a student who has moved away from home may face, First devised a ‘No Scary Bears’ campaign to reach out to the student market.

First impressed the judges by taking the generation of student travel to a new level with pre-sales activity by creating a direct mail pack with follow-up e-mails using data sourced from UCAS, along with a ‘No Scary Bears’ campaign website and an ‘early bird’ ticket offer.

Parents were encouraged to set up direct debits to pay for bus travel. This and imaginative initiatives with residential lettings agents and students at Freshers’ Fairs generated substantial increases in sales.

FINALIST

F r e e r i de S un day T R E N T BAR TON

Freeride Sunday is trentbarton’s extremely imaginative way of growing passenger numbers and revenue at quieter times of the day and the week. Through the promotion of a flash offer of free rides for one hour, it generated 8% more journeys across the whole Sunday - and 38% more in the promotional hour. On-bus revenue also grew by 7% with the extra people travelling back later in the day. Supported by clever marketing, the judges felt that this genuinely innovative idea, lowrisk and inexpensive to execute, had major potential for use elsewhere, as well as generating much goodwill among local traders and the community at large.

Seeking to promote the frequency of three services along a particular section of route, increase passenger numbers and capitalise on a £1m investment in new buses, Arriva North East devised a ‘people disappearing’ campaign. The strapline, with its use of humour and messaging targeted at particular types of infrequent bus user has really made people sit up and take notice to the extent that the initiative generated year-on-year growth in passenger numbers of over 15%.

This impressed the judges hugely, who considered the campaign a fine example of how marketing tailored to particular audiences can have a major effect on bus use.

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T ECHNICAL & PROF ESSIONAL

THE AWARD FOR SUSTAINED MARKETING EXCELLENCE • Sponsored by

GOLD

winner

B u s i ness to B u s i ness G o Grow th!

AR R IVA NORTH E AS T AND YOR KSHI RE

This award, introduced for the first time in 2011, is designed to recognise marketing excellence of a sustained period that is likely to be measured in years rather than weeks.

The award goes to the organisation that best demonstrates how an active, customer-focused marketing strategy, consistently applied over time, has driven business improvement, won extra journeys and captured new customers, ideally through a shift of travel from car to bus.

The business-tobusiness strategy at Arriva North East and Yorkshire is proving to be a highly successful sustained marketing programme which introduces the idea of bus travel to tens of thousands of people across the region. The marketing team invest heavily each year in promotional support for employers from intranet information to merchandise, followed by roadshows at every ‘signed up’ location.

The dividends have paid off, with a 25% increase in revenue and a seven-fold return on investment. While many in the industry have recognised the importance of such a strategy, the judges were impressed with the company’s proactive, imaginative and sustained approach to building awareness of bus travel and improving perceptions.

SILVER winner

l i s t e n , i n novat e , i m prove - the e volu t ion of R e adi ng B uses RE ADI NG B U S ES

Reading Buses has spent the last six years upgrading every element of its marketing mix. Through a series of large and small measures, customers can now access information when and how they want it. Far from resting on its laurels, the company continues to progress with imaginative initiatives to raise the profile of bus travel and attract more customers, from a top-to-toe route revamp growing patronage by 14% on its purple 17 hybrid service to a smartcard campaign increasing online transactions by 437%.

The judges were impressed with how Reading Buses’ philosophy of listening to its customers had impacted on everything the company does: when it comes to sustained marketing excellence, others in the industry looking to develop their own model need look no further than to Reading.

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BRONZE winner

Arriva So cial M e dia - N e ve r M i s s t h e B uz z ARRIVA UK B U S

From an initial pilot in 2011 to what it prides as industry-leading coverage across the UK in 2014, Arriva has demonstrated continued innovation and excellence in its use of social media. Arriva uses dedicated employees to deliver a mixture of daily proactive content, specific campaigns and live responses to engage customers and deliver genuine business benefits. While many bus companies now recognise the importance of social media in communicating with customers and young people in particular, Arriva was amongst the first to develop this as a key part of its marketing strategy, impressing the judges with how the group has continued to innovate and achieve positive results, with more than 75,000 followers and fans on its channels.

FINALIST

F i rs t Manch es t e r - G row th Strategy F I RS T UK B U S ( NOR T H R EGION)

After experiencing a historic reduction in patronage and revenue until October 2012, First Manchester ran a strategic marketing campaign to attract new customers through reduced fares, service improvements, and stronger customer foundations in Greater Manchester.

Adopting a long-term strategy for commercial stability, the company has achieved substantial growth through improved customer focus and good employee buy-in, generating 14% growth in fare-paying customers in 2013/14, compared to the previous year. The judges were particularly impressed by the four tactical stages of the campaign, each building on key messages and taking customers and staff through a perceptionchanging process about both bus travel in general and First in Manchester.

FINALIST

Go North Eas t - Mar k e t i ng for G row t h GO NORTH E AST

Go North East has a passion and reputation for service and innovation, which it firmly believes is responsible for its growth in passenger numbers and high satisfaction levels. As well as refreshing conventional approaches, the company has successfully used new technology to improve its communications, pricing and delivery of services across its area, and prides itself for challenging thinking on how buses should be marketed and run. The company’s use of solid market research and sophisticated techniques more akin to major retailers to ensure that its business is well supported and its marketing activity targeted and cost effective, appealed greatly to the judges.

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PEOPLE

YOUNG MANAGER OF THE YEAR • Sponsored by

SILVER winner

N ick Faich n e y AR R IVA LON D ON

This award focuses especially on the talent we will all rely on to deliver our bus services for the next 20 years and more: the young managers, currently delivering and planning services at the sharp end - but whose skills will be vitally important over the coming years as the bus increasingly comes to be seen as an aid to reducing carbon emissions and fighting climate change.

GOLD

winner

Richar d Hoar e AR R IVA NOR TH WES T AN D WAL ES

Nick is a Deputy Operating Manager for Arriva London’s Enfield Depot after joining the company’s graduate scheme some four years ago. Extremely well-liked amongst both drivers and colleagues, Nick spends as much time with his staff as possible and dedicates much of his management time to working in the traffic office with his team of supervisors to ensure they feel supported and understand how their actions help to deliver a first class bus service. In just six months, working with his manager, Nick has raised the efficiency of Enfield depot from bronze status to gold, with an overall improvement of nearly 25%. Passionate and innovative, Nick made a positive impression on the judges, who felt he has a bright future in the industry.

The consummate professional, Richard lives and breathes the bus industry. Since joining Arriva in 2007, he has become one of the most respected and experienced managers Arriva has in the north west where he has managed various depots. From his first ever placement in St Helens Garage, he showcased a thorough understanding of complex issues facing him and in his current role as Merseyside General Manager in Bootle, he is a true strategist in both his approach to work and when mentoring colleagues and junior managers. Richard’s knowledge about the processes and procedures that go into running a successful depot go far beyond his 29 years. The judges were able to see the passion Richard has for his business and were impressed by the clarity of his vision.

FINALIST

S t e phan i e Mah e r NAT IONAL E XPR ES S UK B U S

BRONZE winner

Mat thew Ashton ARRIVA YORKSHIR E

Matthew is an outstanding talent who joined Arriva through the graduate scheme in 2011 and is now managing Heckmondwike Depot with a £9m turnover and leading a team of over 150 employees. He is described by colleagues as a confident, engaging and compassionate leader of the business, who always delivers and exceeds expectations. Arriva Yorkshire is extremely proud of his achievements; in just three years he has become a key member of the senior management team and his sheer professionalism and track record meant he was entrusted to introduce Arriva’s new MAX concept to route 268 in Yorkshire.

Stephanie has developed a strong operational knowledge since joining National Express’ graduate management scheme in 2011. Her first appointment as Assistant Operations Manager was at the company’s biggest business, Birmingham Central, and she now manages 450 drivers and nine office staff at Walsall Depot. One of Stephanie’s most impressive strengths is her employee engagement skills. Committed to staff development and known to go the extra mile for her staff, she has shown great enthusiasm in helping the business reach out to more young women. Finding her a bright and bubbly individual, the judges were impressed by the significant performance improvements Stephanie has achieved.

FINALIST

Rob Hu g h es F I RS TG RO UP

Since joining FirstGroup in 2011 from the company’s graduate scheme, Rob has consistently shown himself as a tenacious individual who shines in every job he is given, taking ownership and securing wins for the wider team. Rob excelled as part of First’s team in the London 2012 Olympics - co-ordinating depots, drivers and fleets and working with a wide range of new stakeholders. Promoted to Operations Manager for First’s Bolton Depot in November last year, Rob has pro-actively helped the supervisory and staff management teams develop, especially in positive front line staff engagement, and he works closely with Bolton College to promote careers in the bus industry. Rob impressed the judges with his encouragement of fresh thinking.

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PEOPLE

UNSUNG HEROES AWARD • Sponsored by

This award is presented annually to one or more individuals who perform junior or middle management roles in the industry and are known for their hard work, loyalty and devotion to duty.

In many cases, the ‘Unsung Heroes’ are those who keep the wheels turning against the odds; no transport operator can do without such people – even though they often slave away for years with no recognition save their own satisfaction in a service delivered and a job well done.

FINALIST

B r ian Reeves AB E L L IO LOND ON & S URRE Y

GOLD

winner

Ch r i s Ice ly S TAG ECOACH MANCH ES T E R

FINALIST

Chris Icely joined the bus industry as a conductor 1978 and is now Service Performance Manager at Stagecoach Manchester. Working with the operator's depot management teams, he leads on highway, crime and security matters with local authorities and Transport for Greater Manchester and on the road regulation and supervision, revenue protection and driver training.

Wherever Chris goes, he constructively gets involved, reports on and follows up every single issue and always offers a solution, guidance and his personal help. Chris’ sustained contribution over many years impressed the judges who said he was exactly the sort of candidate they had in mind when they introduced this category.

Andrew Wrigh t & N e al e Mur phy FIRS T UK BU S ( NOR TH R EGION )

Andrew and Neale, with collective experience of 40 years, work tirelessly behind the scenes in First’s North region to ensure that, day or night, every on-bus ticket machine is updated and working correctly - Andrew for Greater Manchester and Neale for Yorkshire.

Brought together in 2011, they worked beyond the call of duty to ensure the roll-out of new smart-enabled ticket machines across 2,500 vehicles at 16 depots was a success. Following the recent acquisition of Finglands, Andrew led the ticket machine changeover seamlessly overnight while Neale, with just six-weeks lead time, co-ordinated a range of activities to ensure ticket machines at York Park & Ride were replaced with a new system on time. Andrew and Neale impressed the judges with both their complementary skills as a team and their key roles in their own right.

FINALIST

When Brian became Driving Standards Manager (DSM) at Battersea Depot in May 2012, collisions were at an all-time high and investigations and action such as training or disciplinaries were in need of consistency. Now Abellio’s most passionate DSM, Brian has worked around the clock to bring about a 42% reduction in collisions in Battersea, using various proactive techniques to educate drivers and improve standards. His H2O challenge to drive an obstacle course around the depot with a full glass of water on the dashboard and not spill a drop engaged colleagues and he rewards drivers who, for example, achieve commendations or top driving scores with a certificate and cash voucher. The judges agreed Brian has made a significant contribution in a short amount of time.

S hayn e Howar t h S TAG ECOACH YOR KSH I RE

Since starting his career after school with a small operator in a supervisory role, Shayne joined Stagecoach in 2004 and has worked his way up through the group’s staff development programme. Having played a key role in the company’s Barnsley network review of May 2007, where overall service satisfaction levels rose by 24% to 77%, Shayne has been Assistant Operations Manager at Chesterfield Depot since 2011, overseeing the day-to-day operation of the business. Shayne never settles for second-best and pushes those around him to challenge, question and work towards offering the best service provision possible and the judges praised Shayne as an innovator when it comes to administration.

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PEOPL E

THE CHRIS MOYES MEMORIAL AWARD FOR TOP NATIONAL BUS DRIVER • Sponsored by

This award is presented to the bus driver who has best demonstrated excellent performance from the customer perspective.

To win the title of Top National Bus Driver, entrants need to go that extra mile to provide the customers’ ideal; a driver who is friendly, helpful, conscientious, mindful of passengers’ comfort and well-being – in short, a true professional and worthy ambassador for the job.

This award is presented in memory of Chris Moyes, whose long and distinguished career in the industry was tragically cut short by his death in 2006. Formerly Chief Executive of Go-Ahead Group, Chris was passionate about the importance of people to the industry.

GOLD

winner

Les Ro om e NOT TINGHAM CIT Y T R AN S POR T

Les has two great loves in his life - Nottingham Forest Football Club and driving for Nottingham City Transport. Before joining NCT in 2007, he had various jobs, but none of them gave him the passion and satisfaction he felt while watching his beloved team. Now, Les channels that same level of enthusiasm and commitment into his working life and his passengers are delighted with the results. Priding himself on the high level of care he continually shows his passengers, Les always waits when he sees someone running for the bus, regularly helping with pushchairs and shopping and lowering the floor or ramp to help anyone in need, not just for wheelchairs. His down-to-earth, hardworking and customer-friendly character - together with some excellent mystery traveller scores - made Les a worthy winner.

SILVER winner

Paul Prosser NATIONAL EXPRESS WEST MIDL AN D S

Since joining National Express West Midlands’ Pensett Depot in May 2012, Paul has established himself as a true customer champion - from spreading the festive spirit by singing carols to putting patients and visitors on his route to the hospital at ease. Although working on high frequency urban services, his customers still recognise him and one of the 17 plaudits he has received is for “the best customer service I have ever received on public transport”. Considered a credit to the business and a technically brilliant driver by National Express, Paul has won the National Express UK Bus Driver of the Year award and impressed the judges with his many customer commendations and excellent track record.

BRONZE winner

Cl are Akehurst FIRST MANCHESTER

While Clare is relatively new to her role as a bus driver, having joined Oldham Depot in January last year, she has demonstrated exemplary driving standards and is already displaying the signs of a first class driver and ambassador for First. Clare received her first praise from a happy customer only five months into the job and her managers are struck by the passion, patience and genuine kindness with which she interacts with passengers, as well as by her enthusiasm for driving and thirst for improvement. Recently appointed to the position of Relief Service Performance Supervisor, Clare’s high standards make her a worthy finalist.

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FINALIST

FINALIST

Just yna Wawr z yck a ARRIVA NORTH E AST

S t e ph e n R e e d S TAG ECOACH WES T S COT L AN D

Justyna’s positivity is infectious and she carries out everything she does at Arriva’s Newcastle Depot with huge amounts of enthusiasm and passion. Considered a shining example of how a smile and friendly demeanour can massively impact on customers’ overall experience, Arriva is very proud of her achievements and in 2012 she was awarded Newcomer of the Year at Arriva North East’s Made a Difference (MAD) Awards.

Justyna was made an Arriva Angel at her depot - a select group of bus drivers who promote outstanding customer service - despite only joining the group in 2011 and impressed the judges with her approach to her work.

A man of many talents, Stephen has had a varied career from serving in the Armed Forces to pig farming in Northumberland. He joined Stagecoach in 2006 working on local services within Troon and Ayr before moving to working backshift on the X77 express service between Ayr and Glasgow via Prestwick Airport. Faced with many Polish customers unable to speak English and finding it difficult to ask for a bus ticket, Stephen proved his ability to go beyond the call of duty by teaching himself Polish. His customer service skills and determined self-improvement impressed the judges.

FINALIST

Ian G r e e n f i e l d AR R IVA M I DL AN D S

Ian is a regular driver on the Oxon Park & Ride site in Shrewsbury where he is based, having joined Arriva Midlands in 1996. Changing a customer’s punctured tyre so they would not be stranded at the site is one example of how Ian has exceeded the remit of his role to help customers in difficulty. Coupled with his excellent customer relation skills, Ian is considered a fine ambassador not only for Arriva but particularly for Shrewsbury Depot and he has been rewarded with Made a Difference Awards (MAD) at a local level and as Arriva UK’s top MAD driver in 2014. The judges agreed that Ian is a true ambassador for the industry.

FINALIST

Jai s on Annear F I RS T WEST OF E NG L AND

FINALIST

Malcol m B ur ton F I RS T S O U T H YOR KS H I R E

Malcolm is valued as a superb driver who is well liked by colleagues and customers and who goes about his job in an unassuming manner. Based at First’s Doncaster Depot after joining the group in 2001, Malcolm’s biggest strength is making his customers feel welcome, in particular those who have difficulties whether they have sight problems, are disabled or are trying to manoeuvre a pushchair onto the bus.

Malcolm has received regular praise from customers for his care, patience and friendliness, not least for waiting for elderly passengers to board the bus, and the judges felt that his numerous commendations made him a natural candidate.

Over the six years Jaison has worked for First, he has shone out as a model employee. Based at First’s Hengrove Depot, he has maintained an untarnished record. In two years Jaison has generated commendations from no less than 17 satisfied customers, while his professionalism and helpful attitude is valued by his manager who considers Jaison a role model for all bus drivers across the profession.

It is no surprise to hear that in April 2013 he was named the region’s Superstar of the month.

A UK Bus Awards finalist for the second year running, Jaison impressed the judges with his excellent record.

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PEOPLE

ENGINEER OF THE YEAR • Sponsored by

FINALIST

L e ig h Vardanega LON D ON UNI TED B U SWAYS

This award is designed to recognise, reward and inspire management talent in the engineering disciplines of the UK bus industry. The Award is promoted with the assistance of the Institute of Road Transport Engineers. It is open to all people employed at, or above, the supervisory grade in the engineering function of bus operating, maintenance or manufacturing companies or organisations.

Short-listed nominees are required to make a presentation to the judges, and take part in a question and answer session with them.

GOLD

winner

Tony Co ckcrof t STAG ECOACH M ERSE YS I DE

Seconded to Stagecoach Merseyside to control three existing depots and merge two new, underperforming ones as Engineering Director two years ago, Tony has inspired his teams to be more pro-active and passionate about their job. He raised standards across all five depots and his fresh, approachable manner has improved engineering and operations communications to ensure all depots are working together as a team to achieve ultimate customer satisfaction. His managers now have tools to analyse defect and breakdown information and lost mileage has reduced by 30% across his existing depots. The judges were impressed by Tony’s professionalism and his passion for developing his staff at all levels.

BRONZE

FINALIST

S t uar t Drum mon d F I RS T UK B U S ( NOR T H R EG ION )

E vr an Kiazim AR R IVA SO UTH ERN CO UN TIES

winner

SILVER winner

Jason Jackson ENSIGNBU S

Having joined Ensignbus as an apprentice, Jason is now Workshop Manager where he leads a team of engineers including three apprentices. Despite the sheer diversity of his job from the repair and maintenance of the latest hybrid vehicles to the refurbishment of sales vehicles and the restoration of historic vintage buses dating back to 1930, he delivers consistent results across the whole range of demand. Jason is not only a talented engineer and effective manager but a great ambassador for the company when dealing with bus sales customers and an inspiring mentor for apprentices and others who aspire to achieve a similar level of expertise.

When Leigh Vardanega was appointed Engineering Manager at London United’s Hounslow Depot in 2012, he was faced with the huge task of transforming working culture to raise the bar in engineering performance in London. Through managerial skill, financial acumen, leadership and engineering excellence, he has instilled a sense of pride in his engineers and created an ethos of openness, teamwork and personal accountability.

Rigorous quality checking and reading of all driver defect logs means standards are high and he is proud of a 100% MOT pass rate.

Leigh’s approach and ability to deliver such positive results impressed the judges.

Stuart is a well-respected, diligent and knowledgeable engineer with 16 years’ experience in the bus industry.

Engineering Director for First West Yorkshire, Stuart has demonstrated to the business what can be achieved with an industrious and honest application of sound engineering techniques, delivered in an inclusive and supportive manner. Over the past two years, his calm and methodical approach has significantly boosted the company’s behavioural culture and in Manchester lost mileage has improved by 45%, all while hitting budgetary targets. Stuart shone out to the judges as an exemplar of good practice.

Evran joined Arriva on the Engineering Graduate programme in 2007 and is now an extremely capable and valued manager within the organisation.

He has outstanding leadership qualities and consistently achieves high engineering quality standards. Both the depot and the fleet are very well presented and, while happy to get into overalls and in the thick of it, Evran is always immaculately turned out. Despite increasingly tough budgets faced by engineering managers, each year he always rises to the challenge and is currently slightly under budget for the year.

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PEOPLE

SERVICES TO THE BUS INDUSTRY • Sponsored by

The Award for Services to the Bus Industry recognises a significant and sustained contribution to the success of the industry by an individual who has gone consistently beyond the call of normal duty to improve and promote the bus industry for its users or the wider community.

GOLD

winner

B E N COL S ON

Ben Colson started his career in the bus industry some 45 years ago, working for the National Bus Company. He went on to hold a number of line management posts, before joining the embryonic Stagecoach Group when they bought the NBC subsidiary for which he was working in 1987.

He worked for the group until 2002 in a number of senior commercial management roles, including, from 1996, Stagecoach Manchester, subsequently acting in a consultancy role, and making frequent visits to overseas subsidiaries.

In 1996, together with a key business partner, he bought a small West Norfolk bus and coach company with three vehicles called Norfolk Green. Over the next 18 years, the business grew steadily until it operated over 70 buses over a wide, sparsely populated area of north and west Norfolk, north Cambridgeshire and south Lincolnshire. After a period of ill-health, Ben and his colleagues sold the company to Stagecoach at the end of 2013.

Throughout his career, he has also been an active campaigner for the industry, helping with the development of bus policy for the industry’s trade association, CPT, and serving as an operator representative on a government advisory group. Locally, he has been a member of and chaired a number of local community and partnership boards in west Norfolk.

Since retiring from day-to-day bus operations, Ben has remained active in the industry and was appointed as Chairman of the Association of Local Bus Managers (ALBUM) in the summer of 2014.

Throughout his career, Ben has been an inspirational leader, believing passionately in the future of our industry. He has led by example, building a highly successful, multi-award winning company and in the process advancing the cause of highquality rural transport. He has campaigned tirelessly for the industry, regularly undertaking speaking engagements and lectures to a wide range of different audiences.

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LOND ON AWAR D S

LONDON BUS GARAGE OF THE YEAR • Sponsored by

This is the award which benchmarks the performance of bus garages in London, and rewards the best with a cash prize to be used on facilities to benefit the team which delivers the best service on a day-today basis.

This award is open to garages which operate buses on contract to London Bus Services Ltd. Performance and monitoring data will be used by TfL London Buses to compile a shortlist of garages reaching high levels of recorded performance, which includes: Q Driver Quality Monitoring data Q Wheelchair ramp operational audit data Q Customer Satisfaction Survey and Mystery Traveller Survey results Q Lost Mileage Q Quality of Service Indicators Q Engineering standards Q Levels of public comments Each shortlisted garage will be challenged to submit its own assessment of its achievements, emphasising its impact on passenger service, staff well-being and the communities served by reference to specified issues.

GOLD

winner

Bat t e rs e a AB EL LIO LON D ON & S UR RE Y

SILVER winner

Battersea is Abellio’s largest garage, with over 500 staff, and its performance has rocketed in the last few months - from climbing TfL league tables to new recruits actively looking to join up. Managers and supervisors have been empowered to bring about change locally. A ‘Welcome to Wow!’ campaign to encourage drivers to say hello to passengers has also driven up the number of customer commendations dramatically and drivers receive rewards such as Hall of Fame photos and the Abellio Excellence Gold Tie for exceptional customer service. An impressive amount of work has gone into developing team spirit, from coffee mornings to celebrating big sporting events with live matches and Battersea is also proactive in its charity and community work, supporting local schools and an elderly centre. All in all, the judges felt Battersea was delivering a first-rate performance against all criteria.

Rom for d STAGECOACH LON D ON

Stagecoach London’s Romford Garage of over 300 staff has a mature, stable and focused team of drivers and engineers who have embraced the challenge of adapting to new methods of assessment while maintaining traditional values to drive up standards. Developments such as Green Road to measure driver performance have improved customer service. Meanwhile, engineers have shown ownership, pride and teamwork by painting their workshop and have achieved 10% or more energy savings in the last two years. Community links are strong, with careful attention paid to being a good neighbour to local residents and recent involvement with a dementia alliance. The judges were impressed by the remarkably low staff turnover rate of 3.2% with average length of service being the highest at 15 years and fostering strong team bonds.

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FINALIST

Kings Cross METROLINE TRAVEL LIMITE D

Metroline operates three routes within central London from its Kings Cross Garage of 180 staff and won ‘Garage of the Year’ at the company’s service awards this year. Its new focus and culture of commitment to both staff and passengers has driven up performance, with a newsletter developed and plasma screen updated with relevant and localised content. Mystery Traveller reports are discussed with individual drivers and they are commended for all positive points raised. Many drivers now receive commendations for exceptional service every month and the judges were impressed that Kings Cross consistently receives an unblemished record for interaction and professionalism where drivers fully understand the need to be polite and professional at all times.

FINALIST

FINALIST

S u t ton G O -AH E AD LON D ON

Go-Ahead London’s Sutton Garage prides its teamwork and positive work ethics as the main factors driving success. Customer service improvements have been achieved by talking with members of the local community and identifying areas for attention, while local forums have enabled drivers to recognise the specific needs of the disabled, elderly and others. Drivers consistently achieve high scores in TfL’s driver assessment programme, with small rewards given for the highest marks. The garage also has a well-supported Sports and Social Club and works closely with local schools and senior citizens. The judges were impressed that a Quality of Service Excess Waiting Time of nearly 15% better than the minimum standard required for routes operated had been achieved.

FINALIST

Pot ters Bar METROLINE TRAVEL LIMITE D

Metroline’s Potters Bar Garage of nearly 400 staff values its community ties, history, and record of long service. Positive growth and turnaround since 2010 are reflected through substantial investment in new buses, management development training and staff coaching with regular management ‘one to one’ sessions with feedback on key initiatives such as a ‘Thank you driver’ campaign aimed at improving awareness of vulnerable passengers. Team spirit has been fostered by monthly open forums, a garage newsletter, a driver bonus scheme, new driver rest areas and a refurbished, rebranded and re-launched canteen. The judges were impressed with steps to enhance community relations such as fund-raising garage open days for local charities, engagement with local youth groups and local disability groups.

Ho unslow Heath LON D ON UNITED B USWAYS LTD

London United prides its Hounslow Heath Garage on strong team spirit, customer service and community presence, as well as an ability to deal quickly with any gaps in service. Garage bulletins and the inhouse journal are used to promote performance improvements and high standards in customer service are encouraged through refresher seminars and discussion and followup with each driver on the results of mystery traveller surveys.

For each customer commendation, the driver receives personally thanks from their manager and a letter of appreciation.

The judges welcomed the team spirit that has been developed, with a ‘one garage, one team’ approach and a clear absence of a ‘them and us’ culture. Meanwhile, active relationships with local schools encourage children how to behave like model citizens when travelling by bus.

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LOND ON AWARD S

LUKE REES-PULLEY CHARITABLE TRUST AWARD FOR TOP LONDON BUS DRIVER • Sponsored by

SILVER winner

Mohammed Shabir - As h Grove C T PLU S

Mohammed is considered a shining example of the idea that excellence in the bus industry combines the best of driving with the best of face-toface customer care.

His managers have received more letters of commendation from the public than any other driver and praise on social media in Walthamstow where he drives on Route W12 for CT Plus. This is reinforced by telematics data showing almost no instances of harsh braking or acceleration.

In providing a safe and comfortable journey for passengers Mohammed also helps to reduce the carbon footprint in line CT Plus’ values as a social enterprise.

His excellent all-round performance impressed the judges.

Luke Rees-Pulley was passionate about buses throughout his life, which was tragically cut short by murder. The trust founded in his name seeks to rekindle the pride and status of bus drivers in the capital to the levels seen in the 1930s when to be a bus driver was to be a respected professional providing an essential service. This award is part of that process, recognising and rewarding top-quality service and commitment.

This award is presented to the London bus driver who has best demonstrated excellent performance from the customer perspective in the 12 month period to the end of June each year.

GOLD

winner

Natasha L am b e r t - M e r ton GO - AHE AD LON D ON

Natasha is valued as a “brilliant”, “flexible” and “level-headed” asset to Go-Ahead London’s Merton Depot where she has been driving for 13 years. While she has impressed customers with her welcoming smile, skilful driving and her ability to calm an irate passenger over delays beyond her control, she has earned a reputation for going out of her way to help her colleagues - mentoring new drivers and providing advice to experienced ones and assisting supervisors with staff cover. She has been invaluable in coming up with new initiatives and ideas to assist Merton’s Accident Prevention Team and with her Institute of Advanced Motoring qualification, she sets a standard for careful and considerate driving that is appreciated by customers.

Natasha deserves recognition and the judges felt that her attitude was exceptional.

SILVER winner

R ichar d E m e r ton - F ulwe l l LON D ON UN I T E D B U SWAYS LT D

Richard’s love of bus driving, his outstanding approach to the job and first-class driving skills have not gone unnoticed by his managers. Equipped with 10 years’ bus driving experience, he relishes the positive contribution he makes to keeping London on the move and in passing on his skills to new recruits. Visitors and tourists find him a mine of information about the capital and its public transport network and he is particularly sensitive to the needs of less mobile customers, doing whatever he can to ensure they feel welcome. He is also extremely supportive of TfL’s measures to boost reliability, valuing small measures such as maintaining headway as important as the larger initiatives, and it was clear to the judges he fulfils his role to a high standard.

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FINALIST

Dam i e n Nota - Bat t e rs e a AB EL L IO LON D ON & S UR R E Y

FINALIST

FINALIST

Chol a Mitche l l - Croyd on ME TROBU S

Al e x B ur rows B e x l e yh e at h G O - AH EAD LOND ON

Chola’s confident bubbly personality shone out from the moment she started working for Metrobus’ Croydon Depot in July 2012. The 119 route she works on links Croydon and Bromley and attracts a high turnover of passengers, yet she has still made her mark on passengers who have taken the trouble to commend her consideration for their needs, her politeness and driving standards after meeting her only once. Popular with her colleagues and showing a real interest in being able to help everyone, Chola has scored Grade 1s in all three in-house assessments, attracting comments for her good customer service and her welcoming approach to boarding passengers. The judges noted she takes good care of older customers and felt her positive outlook to the job was inspirational to others.

FINALIST

T revor Stot te n - E PSOM QUALIT Y LINE

Trevor is regarded as a ‘silent hero’ at Quality Line’s Epsom Depot, standing out for his professionalism and diplomacy. He treats all passengers on his X26 Croydon to Heathrow route as individuals, keeping them fully informed if there are delays. Trevor also takes a keen interest in operational performance and works closely with engineers to maintain high standards. The judges were impressed with Trevor’s attitude - before London Buses went cashless in the summer, he made sure all his colleagues knew where travellers from overseas could purchase Oyster cards, listing all the local newsagents and shops in the area.

With 12 years’ experience of driving for Go-Ahead London, Alex understands the importance of exceptional customer service in operating a local bus service.

Driving the 486 route which serves Bexleyheath and North Greenwich, he is kind and helpful towards passengers and makes full use of the on-bus PA system to update on delays and route information, always encouraging new drivers to feel confident at passing on important messages in the same way. His previous experience as a Police Officer in the Royal Parks equips him to deal with all types of situations professionally and the safety of his passengers is a top priority for him.

The judges admired his commitment and dedication to enhance the role of the professional bus driver exactly the intention of this award.

Loved by his customers, Damien puts his personality, charm and joy for the job into every journey he makes.

After spending most of his 13 years in the industry in Yorkshire, he joined Abellio’s Battersea Depot earlier this year and in only five months, he has received 13 accolades from colleagues and customers - one describing him as “the happiest bus driver I’ve ever met” and worthy of a medal. His manager has said if Abellio could bottle Damien’s approach, attitude, energy and enthusiasm, it would. The judges noted that Damien has already won an Abellio Excellence Gold Tie and were pleased he is now a new driver mentor, passing on his wisdom and approach.

FINALIST

An dr e w Ph i l l i p - Bat t e rsea AB EL L IO LON D ON & S UR R E Y

Described by colleagues as passionate, vivacious and charming, loving his customers and his route, Andrew shows outstanding levels of customer service. Five of his 10-year experience has been at Abellio’s Battersea Garage where he has constantly received glowing feedback from customers who reiterate his positive attitude. His customer service skills have won him an Abellio Excellence Gold Tie after which, selected from 13,000 people, he won his company’s Employee of the Year award. Andrew impressed the judges as an excellent ambassador for both his company and for the bus driving profession.

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SPONSORSHIP •

The U K b us indus try – a s ervice to the pu b lic that i s b ig bu s ines s Ian Smith,

UK Bus Awards Commercial Director, describes how sponsors benefit from their involvement with UK Bus Awards.

T

he UK bus industry has a huge public profile: buses currently carry nearly 70% of all public transport passengers in the UK. The Department for Transport states that the industry has a total patronage of 5.2 billion journeys a year in Great Britain and employs an estimated 170,000 people. In many areas, the local bus company is one of the largest local employers. The UK bus industry provides over £2.5 billion worth of business to a range of suppliers across thirteen broad categories from fuels, oils and lubricants to IT and communications.

The UK Bus Awards scheme tells the world at large about the good work going on in the industry and the benefits it brings. It highlights the bus industry’s achievements and achieves nationwide coverage in the local and regional media. The scheme is celebrating its 20th year in 2015 and is well-established as the original and best award scheme in the industry. The scheme is fully supported by a combination of sponsorship from the bus industry’s leading suppliers and patronage from the leading operating groups. In 2015 we shall again be seeking assistance from sponsors to ensure that the scheme continues to deliver its objectives, so helping everybody involved with the bus industry. We shall also be looking for a high level sponsor from the worlds of financial transaction services and communications as more and more customers benefit from apps, smartcards and m-ticketing as well as on-board WiFi and contactless payment systems.

We offer a whole range of profile-raising opportunities that allow businesses both large and small the opportunity to be recognised as a making an important contribution to the scheme’s future. Our sponsors tell us how supporting the Bus Awards gives them a tremendous feeling of well-being and, for award sponsors, there’s nothing quite like that feeling of going up on stage to announce the winner of ‘your’ award.

That’s when you have the attention of the cream of the UK bus industry eagerly awaiting what you have to say! You get the chance to do a live commercial and tell the hundreds of key people in the room about your company and why you support the scheme that

showcases the bus industry’s achievements.

The glittering presentation ceremony every November is just the tip of a large iceberg: as well as the website and Finalists’ Lunch, when the short-list is announced, the organisers conduct a major PR campaign every autumn. This campaign achieves maximum positive coverage of the industry at the time of both the short-list announcement and the presentation ceremony. Increasingly important too is the use of a variety of media to get the message across, using video footage, images and social media such as Facebook and Twitter as well as the written word in all its forms.

Altogether, the annual costs of running the scheme over the year are around £200,000 and it’s worth every penny. But only around a quarter of this can be raised through selling tickets for the presentation ceremony; the rest is generously contributed by our sponsors, some of whom have been with us since day one, notably Arthur J Gallagher and Exterion Media and their predecessors. We look forward to further sponsors joining us in 2015 from the worlds of information technology, electronic payment and intelligent transport systems.

Equally important is the contribution made by the industry itself, through our patron and supporter packages: almost all of the UK’s bus groups, as well as the ALBUM group, generously contribute from their head offices whilst their local operating companies are free to compete for the awards.

On these pages you can see who our sponsors and patrons are. They keep the scheme going and enable us to run the competition. But we need more sponsors, large or small, and we’re keen to talk to suppliers who have yet to sponsor UK Bus Awards: why not talk to us and learn what it could mean to you? Our established sponsors will confirm that the benefits are substantial and highly worthwhile. We develop lasting partnerships that help newer businesses become established in the industry and demonstrate how established suppliers put something back into the industry from which they earn a living. That is my cue to thank, most sincerely, all our sponsors, patrons and supporting organisations for helping us to keep this massive show on the road! •

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The UK Bus Awar d s spons orship of f e r SP ON SORSH I P OF THE AWAR D S DELIVERS

Q Promotional opportunities to the industry’s key decision-makers Q High-profile, top quality opportunities for corporate hospitality Q A well-organised and prestigious awards event Q Highly-acclaimed seminars and conferences Q High quality administration and organisation.

HOW CAN YOU PAR TICIPATE ?

UK Bus Awards Objec tives T HI S I S WHAT WE AIM TO ACHIEVE

Positive coverage of bus transport in the local, regional and national media; incentives for bus companies, their management and staff, local authorities and industry suppliers to adopt good practice in their businesses; and a forum in which best practice can receive wider coverage in the industry.

Ian Smith with Chola Mitchell of Metrobus, Top London Bus Driver finalist at the UK Bus Awards

Q You could sponsor the whole scheme Q You can sponsor one of the awards Q You can sponsor the Awards Ceremony Q Or you can have a supporter package to suit your budget.

WHO CAN TAK E PAR T IN THIS?

Q Suppliers Q Operators Q Local authorities Q Professional organisations involved with the industry.

PACK AGES TO SUIT YOUR N E E DS

You can choose from a range of sponsorship and support packages, all of which offer significant benefits:

Q Award Sponsor A high-profile deal, linking your company with an award category and corporate entertaining ‘par excellence’!

Q Scheme Sponsor High-profile support of the overall Awards scheme Q Ceremony Sponsor A high-quality corporate hospitality opportunity in return for sponsorship of the presentation ceremony Q Event Sponsor A range of packages enabling your company to be identified with particular aspects of UKBA events - our finalists’ lunch and presentation ceremony Q Supporters Cost-effective deals available for smaller businesses to help with profile-raising and networking Q Patrons Packages available for corporate support from the major bus operating groups constructed so as to avoid any conflict of interest.

Ian Smith would really like to talk to you about becoming a sponsor so please give him a call on 01392 247997 or email him at ian.smith@ ukbusawards.org.uk

UK B u s Awar d s ’ s p on s ors an d s tak e hol de rs We are grateful to all our sponsors, industry patrons and supporters for their support, thus enabling us to continue our work spreading quality and celebrating excellence in the UK bus industry.

AWAR D S PON SORS :

PASSENGER

TRANSPORT

PAT RON S :

S PON SORS :

S UPPL I E R S UPP OR T E RS :

S UPP OR T I NG ORGAN I SAT ION S:

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REFLECTIONS •

A Centu ry of the b us and t wo decades o f awards Chris Cheek

reflects on the importance of the bus to our national life – past and present – and on the future for the Awards as we approach the start of our 20th competition

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vivid reminder of the central role that the bus has played in the history of our nation was provided to people attending this year’s UK Bus Awards presentation ceremony at the London Hilton Hotel, with the positioning outside of the Battle Bus, the London Transport Museum’s splendid rebuilding of a B-type London bus dressed, as many of them were, for their role as troop transports on the Western Front during the First World War. Of course, the way we live our lives has changed almost beyond recognition in the century that has now passed since those terrible events. There have also been more than a few changes to the way our buses are built over that same 100 years – as we were reminded this summer at the wonderful Year of the Bus cavalcade in London’s Regent Street. We have moved from the pioneering design of the B-type to its direct successor, the New Bus for London of 2013.

As the UK recovered from the war and we developed into the mass travel of the 1920s and 1930s, so the bus took up a position at the heart of our national life, taking our grandparents and great-grandparents to the factory gate and the office, to the cinema and the seaside, for visits to the shops and rapidly developing

new leisure and sports facilities built around the country.

Bus services helped to see us through the traumas of another World War and into the post-war era of prosperity and the welfare state. The double decker bus remains a key part of our identity - one of those iconic symbols which somehow sum up what these islands are all about.

Even today, buses are the UK’s most widely used public transport mode, carrying over five billion passengers a year – an average of almost 90 journeys per head per year. Bus travel is a young person’s product – 49% of journeys are by the under 30s. It’s also a product of choice for millions – 20% of bus passengers outside London have a car available for their journey, but choose to go by bus instead. High and rising customer satisfaction levels are regularly reported, with well over 80% happy with their service.

Buses continue to be central to the lives of millions of people – and this seems unlikely to change: we cannot accommodate unfettered growth in urban motoring – cars get cleaner and greener, but still consume scarce road space. A higher proportion of local travel needs to be made by public transport, and the bus offers the speediest and - in the short term at least – most cost-effective means of achieving the switch.

In London, we have seen how buses can cope with rising demand - passenger volumes have more than doubled since 1994. Elsewhere, cities such as Brighton,

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Oxford, Cambridge, Nottingham and Edinburgh have achieved growth in demand by implementing consistent, long-term, pro-bus policies.

People make their own choices about the mode they use – based on time, price and quality. The industry’s task is to optimise all three for the bus – but operators cannot do all this alone: local authorities also have a crucial role to play. This is why partnerships are so important – driving up bus speeds and quality, and driving down costs. At the same time, we need to ensure that the true cost of motoring is reflected in the decisions that drivers make.

So, a whole range of factors need to come together in order to produce the optimum outcome in terms of passenger growth: quality staff, product innovation, effective promotion and service delivery.

And that’s where the UK Bus Awards come in.

The need to encourage good practice amongst bus operators and local authorities was recognised 23 years ago, when the Association of Metropolitan Authorities first launched the Bus Good Practice Awards.

Building on those foundations, our scheme was founded in December 1995 at a meeting of industry representatives held at the Kingsley Hotel in Bloomsbury.

We believed then that an awards scheme had a role to play: provided it was independently and objectively judged, and had integrity, awards could provide an

Above left: Chris Cheek at this year's UK Bus Awards. Above: The London Transport Museum's B-type Battle Bus outside the London Hilton Hotel, where the award's presentation ceremony took place.

incentive to encourage excellence and good practice in a whole range of activities vital to delivering successful bus services. At the same time, a successful scheme could act as a conduit to publicise the successes that were being achieved. And finally it could be an exemplar – providing examples in the winning projects which others could follow. These are the objectives that have been distilled over the years into our slogan “recognising rewarding inspiring”.

As we approach the year of our 20th competition, we can I believe claim our instincts were correct: we have delivered a scheme that is independently and objectively judged, whose prizes are genuinely valued because they really mean something. We have seen – and hopefully in some small way contributed to – a huge rise in standards and professionalism, in customer service standards and in the professionalism and creativity of the industry’s marketing and promotional schemes.

Buses provide a key mode of transport for millions of people, every day. Our challenge over the next decade is to make the bus a mode of choice for millions more.

The UK Bus Awards has a role to play in achieving that – and we certainly plan to go on recognising and rewarding excellence, and inspiring others to follow the examples of our winners into 2015 and into our third decade. That way, the whole industry can win. • 57

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JUDGING ENTRIES • j u dg ing you r qualit y entries Distinguishing between so many top quality entries has become increasing difficult.

J o h n Ow e n O B E , Convenor of Judges, explains the process behind the judging of the UK Bus Awards

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e have always recognised that a fair, impartial and well-run judging process is essential if the UK Bus Awards is to deliver on its mission of recognising, rewarding and inspiring. To fail to do so would not only devalue the awards but also not do justice to the hard work of all who made the effort to enter.

The tremendous improvement in standards over our 19 years means that distinguishing between so many top quality entries has become much more difficult.

Judging and mystery travelling have to be far more thorough if the correct finalists are to be selected – let alone the right choices made for the winners and runners-up.

This year over 40 people from a wide range of backgrounds and organisations covering the whole of the United Kingdom made up six expert panels to assess the record 400-plus entries.

We are extremely grateful for the time they spent at the meetings in London, and the considerable effort they put into reading, assessing and scoring every entry beforehand, prior to reviewing all supporting information either on-line or at the meeting, before confirming their scores, discussing their views, and reaching their final decisions.

In addition, high importance is placed on the need to assess short-listed nominees on the ground to confirm that service delivery meets the claims in the written submissions. This has been an integral part of the Awards since the start. Once again this year, our mystery traveller checks have strongly influenced the outcomes. We are extremely grateful to Claire Walters, Gavin Booth and Bus Users UK for organising these service quality checks. Our thanks also go to The TAS Partnership for allowing us to use their quality audit system and software which enables us to compare fairly what are often very different operations in different parts of the UK. With such a high standard, again this year the judges were faced with some extremely difficult decisions. In several categories the quality was such that the shortlist could easily have been even longer.

Even so, there were again some entries which did not do themselves justice either because the guidelines were not adhered to or there was inadequate evidence of their success. Results and outputs are extremely

important.

In two cases, top quality entries had to be penalised for significantly exceeding the maximum 1,500 words in their summary – not to do so would have been unfair on the vast majority who did abide by the rules.

Please read the guidelines and criteria carefully – they are there to help everybody make the best case possible for their entry.

It is vital that the Awards are dynamic, reflecting the environment in which the industry operates, as well as the needs of companies, authorities and other stakeholders.

We keep the categories and criteria, as well as the entry and judging arrangements, under constant review. The judges’ input to setting, maintaining and updating the process is greatly valued and appreciated.

Also, subject to maintaining the integrity of the awards, we will do all we can to simplify the entry process.

But please remember that these are your awards, and we are always happy to receive feedback and suggestions as to how things might be improved. So please give us your views.

Once again our thanks go to all our judges and mystery travellers who gave so freely of their time - and on everybody’s behalf to Pat Hartley-Gibson and the team at Admin 24 for all their hard work in bringing together all aspects of the entry and judging process. •

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