James Freeman has been Managing Director of First West of England since October 2014. It’s a role he approached First about taking on and as he explained to Andy Izatt just over three years later, it’s been an interesting time
First West of England Managing Director, James Freeman, has never been one to walk away from a challenge. A National Bus Company graduate trainee, his long and diverse career dates back to the 1970s and has given him a breadth and depth of experience that few in the industry can match. Born in Bath, he chose to relinquish the top job at Reading Buses (see panel) to take up his current Bristol-based role because he wanted to make a difference to the bus company he’d grown up with. Three years on, the general year-on-year passenger increase is between 6 and 9%.
“Bristol is a very complex city with challenges,” explained James. “It’s a bohemian kind of place. I think there are probably more cycles used on the Gloucester Road than anywhere apart from London. The average number setting off northbound during the evening peak is around 50 per traffic light cycle. This is a part of the world where people care about their environment and also have high expectations.
“What I found when I first came to what was First Bristol & West of England in 2014 was a company that was a bit dispirited. The brand was tarnished. The public always seemed to think the worst of us and sadly, often still do although we continue to work to change that.
“I’ll give you an example of what we’re up against. There was a letter in the Bristol Post newspaper recently from a woman who said that she’d presented her concessionary pass on one of our 48 route buses and it wouldn’t register. Her view was that this was clearly First cooking the books so the service would become un-remunerative and we would take it off. She felt we were capable of doing that, which of course is ridiculous. The 48 is actually one of our busiest routes with a PVR (Peak Vehicle Requirement) of 15.”[wlm_nonmember][…]
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Growing respect
“This company needed to be reconstructed and the place to start was internally,” James continued. “That meant tackling the pervading sense of suspicion and cynicism. The culture we had was one where no one dared say what they really thought.
“What I wanted was to shine a light into every corner of the business. To be transparent where possible and I started that by introducing a weekly news bulletin – something I’d done at Reading Buses. It’s called The Word and comes out on a Thursday both in print and digitally. It actually largely writes itself and my PA compiles it, but I always write the editorial.
“Often it’s just highlighting little things, but if we can tell people why we’re doing something, they will go about whatever we want them to do much more willingly. I wanted to bring some reality and respect back into what we did by demonstrating workaday people standards that everyone could understand.
“We operate around 600 buses from five main deports and an outstation with 1,800 staff. They need to know me and I need to know them, at least to look at, so I have what I call the wave test. When I worked for Stagecoach in Northampton every driver who saw me would toot their horn, wave or pull back their doors to say hello.
“Before I started the Reading job I spent an evening with one of the senior managers and we walked round the town. We were passed by buses all the time, but no one acknowledged him. I thought that was weird. By the time I left Reading, everyone passed the wave test.
“I’ve just about got to that point in Bristol. While there isn’t that uniformly across our business yet, we’re starting to see it coming to the surface more. I was at a public meeting last night in Bath where there were quite a few favourable comments about our drivers, which is good, but we still have quite a long way to go.
“It’s about recognising that I’m on their side – about mutual respect. I expect staff to behave like human beings and respect each other, never mind our customers. For me, this is what it is all about – people in the business looking at themselves in the mirror and saying, ‘actually, we’re doing a great job. I’m very necessary because what I do is important to this city or town.’ It’s about developing contact, trust, belief and taking pride in what we do.”
Reworking the business
“The first place where we really saw that change in attitude was at Weston-super-Mare depot,” said James. “When I first took over, I found that the expectation was that it would close. I had a look around, talked to people and thought to myself, this doesn’t make sense. I need to do something about it.
“We held a meeting on a bus in the depot yard on a cold November evening. The turnout was good, they asked a lot of questions and I answered them as honestly as I could. I said I was going to do everything I could to make the depot viable, but they would need to help me. That’s exactly what they did. From that moment onwards, Weston staff have not looked back. There have been struggles along the way, but the depot has become our ‘can do’ place.
“In conjunction with North Somerset Council, the Weston-super-Mare-based network has been rebranded Excel with a dedicated new livery. The local authority said it was going to abandon tendering, but it was prepared to spend the little money it did have on a one-off relaunch of the commercial network. We agreed what that would be and the council is paying for the 36 buses involved to be repainted. That process started in April and we’re about half way through.
“The work at our Wells depot has completely changed. It used to run a lot of deeply rural mileage that was very low margin. We’ve offloaded that to concentrate on the old established routes that were introduced years ago to replace closed railway lines. Key corridors where there’s no other way of getting from A to B apart from using a car. Up the A37 road on the 376 to Bristol from Street and Glastonbury is one. It’s still the old-established service number, but we have introduced new Mendip Xplorer-branded double-deckers. Passenger growth was 30% in the first year and is still increasing. We’ve extended the brand to the 174 to Bath via Radstock and that’s working well for us as well.
“We’re going through each depot and seeing what can be done to repackage each network – a process that’s ongoing. In Bath we used to have only about 60% of the local market, Rotala-owned Wessex having the other 40%, but year-on-year we’ve improved on that and now it’s 100%.
“In Bristol that means coloured fronts on the buses for different routes – increasingly a standard First approach, but one that we were amongst the first to adopt. It’s a visible change that people notice including our stakeholders and that’s quite important. It makes the network easier to understand, particularly for marginal users, and that’s a key benefit.
“Fairer Fares were introduced in Bristol during 2013 and across other parts of our operation the following year. Around 70% of customers saw a reduction in what they paid by more than 25% and the fares structure was simplified as well. That generated enormous passenger growth – 25% in the first year.
“When I joined there were still a lot of step-entrance midibuses that could turn up on any route in Bristol. Quite apart from being old, they were just not big enough. Where we could, we’ve swopped singles for double-deckers from other Group subsidiaries.
“Our fleet is much more carefully configured now. We know the PVR of every route and the type of bus that should be on it – all rigidly controlled. It’s the same at each of our depots and having a more disciplined operation makes it easier to manage and means passengers know what to expect. Because we understand what we have, we’re better placed when it comes to bidding for replacements and Group has been very good in standing by us and making the investment in new vehicles.
“We’ve started buying double-deckers with two doors because where we have the passenger volumes, we find they unload and load faster, an important issue particularly in Bristol where dwell times have been perceived as contributing to congestion by the City Council. It’s interesting how this goes in cycles. In the 1970s the preference was for two-doors, then it wasn’t, and now it is again. There is definitely a place for them in our fleet.”
Easier ways to pay
“What’s changing fast is how our passengers pay and that’s also having an impact on boarding speeds,” said James. “This business was quite slow in adopting smartcards. When I was at Reading we had thousands of them in circulation, but what we call Touch was only introduced here in February 2014. Not much had been done with smartphones, but by the beginning of 2016 we understood the importance of apps.
“We decided that the best way to encourage take-up would be to differentiate the cost of tickets paid in cash, which would cost more, from smartphone mTickets, which would be less. We’ve done that through a three-phase price increase that started in October 2016 and immediately when we started there was a significant uplift in purchases that has continued. Depending on the route it has been anywhere between 25 and 40% and on our university services it has been as high as 80-90% which is amazing.
“As a result there has been a striking reduction in journey times, which means we need fewer vehicles and around 15 are going to be taken out of the schedule in January without changing the timetable – a huge saving. It was only two years ago that I had to do the opposite and put 25 buses in to counteract the impact of congestion.
“Not only has mTicketing helped remove the problem of dwell times with the City Council, the political dividend extends to our relationship with the mayor.
“George Ferguson, an independent, was mayor when I first came here and First had already set about constructing a good relationship with him. It helped that we were a principal sponsor when Bristol was European Green Capital in 2015. That’s when we first starting putting ‘Bristol’ on the side of the buses which was so well received, we never taken it off.
“When Labour’s Marvin Rees was elected mayor in May 2016, the assistant mayor for planning and transport, Mark Bradshaw continued in that role. Although he has subsequently departed, it gave us a way in and we have built a fantastic relationship with Marvin. Because he said he wanted to be able to turn to someone with bus industry experience, Alex Perry working for First has been seconded into the Bristol City Council office and assists with transport policy. Alex acts as liaison and that has been really valuable for us.
“It’s because of our good relationship that Marvin was prepared to announce in his State of the City Address on October 18 that we would be introducing EMV (Europay, Mastercard and Visa), in other words contactless payments, from January.
“We’ve been accepting contactless on Bristol Park & Ride services since January this year and around 40% of transactions are now conducted that way. Add in 25-40% that are mTickets and we’re starting to squeeze out cash. I think there’s a good chance we’ll be cashless on some Bristol city routes by the end of 2019.
“First West of England has just gone over 100% to Ticketer ticket machines. Bath, Weston, Wells and our outstation in Westbury were the last to change at the beginning of November. Everything about dealing with Ticketer has been positive. I’ve dealt with the company before so knew what to expect, but there are people in this business who have been surprised because it behaved like a proper supplier.”
Exploring franchising
Although franchising is still relatively rare in the bus industry, James is no stranger having agreed a franchising deal when he was running Reading Buses with Newbury & District in 2011 to operate the service between Newbury and Reading using Jetblack-branded Enviro400s. He came to a similar arrangement with Bristol-based Abus in August 2015 covering the X8/X9 routes between Bristol and Nailsea. This September that has been extended to encompass the 349 Bristol to Keynsham service.
“Franchising allows us to deal with all the ticketing technology issues, which are not so easy for a small operator to cope with now,” said James. “We could make our mTickets fully available and provide the necessary back office support.
“Abus is a solid, reliable operator that was already on the Nailsea, Clevedon corridor. What we’ve done enables both of us to offer a better service. Originally we registered the route and Abus operated it. Now it registers it, we effectively take the revenue and pay it a fixed fee.
“The 349 once saw considerable competition, but over the past quarter of a century we and Abus have worked ever closer together on it. It became subject to a notifiable agreement some years ago. We agreed to let Abus into Bristol bus station and then we introduced coordinated timetables. Again, Abus receives a fixed fee. The comprehensive offer we’ve now been able to make to passengers includes through ticketing on the Bath Bus Company’s A4 Air Decker service to Bristol Airport.”
New opportunities
Said James: “While our year-on-year passenger volume increase is between 6 and 9%, in some parts of Bristol it’s higher and we have seen massive increases in some of our student movements. There are 60,000 undergraduates in our area studying at four universities and we now serve all of them. Bristol University was the exception, but we secured a gross cost contact with it this year. Our services to the other three are commercial.
“Bath has burgundy-painted vehicles of which there are 24. It’s less at Bath Spa University where there are six dedicated buses in blue. Around 10 operate for Bristol’s University of the West of England while we have 11 on route U1 for Bristol University. That service is also registered so anyone can travel, but any revenue goes to the university. As you can see, students are very important to us.”
James has high hopes for MetroBus, Bristol’s BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) system, the first and second phases of which are due to open next year. “MetroBus should be the great opportunity,” he said. “Spending £230m on public transport in the city has got to be good news.
“Inevitably the disruption caused by MetroBus’ creation has been an issue, but we just have to forget that and put it behind us. I think once we get past the current question marks about when it will open, support will solidify and it will be seen as a key part of the public transport offer.
“I think we will see what I call the Grenoble Effect. Years ago there was a new tramway in the French city from one end of the valley to the other. What happened when it opened was that the public transport network generally experienced significant uplift in ridership. Because the tram was there, it made people feel better about everything else. I think there will be a bit of that in Bristol so long as nothing gets in the way of that profile.
“MetroBus will have a striking image of its own, but an important feature as far as the user is concerned is that they will be able to step across from and to it from the wider bus network without any penalty. It’s just part of the offer. When it opens our network will have to alter. What’s difficult for us is not knowing when.”
Rolling out gas
“For me, buses powered by bio-methane is the obvious answer,” said James about the growing political imperative to find low carbon public transport solutions. “It’s not the final answer, but equally I don’t think that battery electric technology is where it needs to be for operators like us to buy it commercially.
“The £4.7m granted under the Government’s Low Emission Bus Scheme will enable us to buy 110 gas-fuelled double-deckers. About 80 of those will be part-funded by the scheme with the rest 100% financed by us. More of the grant money is going towards enhanced infrastructure enabling us to lower the cost of operation, improving the overall economics.
“We’re on a busy timetable because the first part of the project will happen quite quickly. By the end of the financial year 2018-2019 there should be around 80 vehicles in operation. The idea is that the whole of east Bristol – that’s every route that runs along Old Market Street where there’s a whole series of services – will be switched to gas buses working from Lawrence Hill depot. That should result in a huge air quality improvement on that corridor.
“The Bristol City mayor likes what’s happening because we’re delivering a real air quality benefit for relatively little cost, but I have to say that there has been quite a lot of questioning of the merits of the project, official and otherwise. I think it’s important not to let the best be the enemy of the good. If you always wait for the best, you end up not doing any good, and gas does the good. We have a bio-methane fuelled Scania Enviro400 City here that just goes back and forwards on route 1 all day without a problem. It’s a solution that’s affordable, it works and it’s here.
“It’s interesting, but what’s perceived as being the answer at a given time, doesn’t always turn out to be. I bought 31 electric hybrid double-deckers when I was at Reading Buses and the first of those are now being converted to diesel. We have nine hybrids in Bath which are proving to be very expensive to run, not least because of the battery costs. They’re used on the Odd Down Park & Ride service contracted by Bath & North East Somerset Council and a Euro 6 Scania diesel double-decker we’re using alongside them has lower emissions. The local authority is now wondering whether it should invest in gas.
“By introducing gas in Bristol we’re demonstrating that we’re trying to do the right thing. We’ve taken action and we’re ahead of the game. It’s a significant experiment. We’re not saying that First is committed to gas, but it does say that First is interested in what happens if a lot of gas buses are put into service in one place. What’s more, it’s not just gas. It’s about using bio-methane made from waste and that’s very important. Lawrence Hill depot has a high pressure gas supply just outside the gates so it won’t be difficult putting in the infrastructure.”
Promising future
“What I’ve said on BBC Radio Bristol is that I want the buses in this city to be the people’s friend. That’s where I want this business to be. I want it to be part of the community that we serve – a respected, valued part of the community. We’re heading in the right direction, but we’re not there yet. When I talk to people there’s now a reasonable amount of respect, but there’s still a lot of cynicism which is the result of decades of poor service that goes back way before First was involved. Just think of the colour bar the company had in the 1960s that lead to a 60-day boycott that was supported by thousands.
“My ambition is to get to the point when our own people feel that working for this business is a really worthwhile job. They are pleased to have it and they want to go on doing it. Once we achieve that, this company will be in a different place.
“The bus network in Bristol is small compared to similar sized cities. Traditionally we have had very low modal share and that dates back to what Bristol Omnibus did in the 1960s. Even by the mid-1970s car ownership was amongst the highest in Britain and that set us on a path towards high congestion.
“As well as Bristol City Council, there’s now a West of England Combined Authority and an elected Conservative mayor, Tim Bowels – a key new relationship. North Somerset is not part of the West of England Combined Authority, but is part of the West of England Partnership. That means it’s involved in MetroBus, but not other projects such as the gas buses, so the politics can be complex.
“The great upside is that there is an appetite in this area to think about the environment and to use public transport. That means there’s a real opportunity for us to make a difference and that makes it quite an exiting place to work. I like stepping up to a challenge.”[/wlm_ismember]
