Jonathan Welch speaks to Managing Director of First Bus’ Scottish operations Duncan Cameron to find out about how the company has changed over recent years, and where it sees itself in the future
FirstGroup has seen many changes over the years, and its focus has shifted significantly from its post-deregulation acquisition and growth phase, which saw it enter the rail sector as well as expand abroad with operations including New World First Bus Hong Kong and Greyhound in the USA. Having expanded worldwide, the company retains its headquarters in its home city of Aberdeen, although arguably the control and management of its local bus services has become more centralised in recent years, with senior local management based at the company’s biggest Scottish depot in Glasgow.
Following the much publicised sale of its sprawling Scotland East business to McGill’s in 2022, the company is left with two key city networks; post-Covid consolidation has seen the firm opt to focus its energies on its core city operations in Glasgow and Aberdeen. I spoke to Managing Director of First Bus Scotland Duncan Cameron to find out more about how the business is progressing in a post-Covid world, and what is in store for the Aberdeen and Glasgow businesses in the near future.
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Having hosted a number of events during the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow in 2021, First is well aware of its need to move to alternative energy sources. “We’re on our way to having the full fleet of 25 hydrogen buses in service in Aberdeen,” Duncan explained, although the re-introduction of the first batch, which was returned to Wrightbus for modifications to hydrogen tank mounts, remains delayed awaiting infrastructure upgrades. “We have another 24 zero-emission vehicles due for Aberdeen this year, and by the end of the year we will be at about 40% zero-emissions across the Glasgow and Aberdeen fleets, which is a really strong statement of where we’re heading.
“We haven’t bought any diesel buses in Scotland since 2018 – apart from one which was an insurance replacement for a vehicle which was written off – and have no intention to buy any more going forwards. Aberdeen will soon be future-proof for electric buses, and we’re learning from the joint strategy of hydrogen and electric. Hydrogen can offer an operating range that electric can’t at the moment. We’re pursuing both until we know which road we want to go down long term.” In early January, planning permission was granted for the installation of charging infrastructure in Aberdeen, subject to installation of measures to mitigate noise from the charging units which local residents feared could produce a constant hum.
Duncan continued: “Caledonia depot in Glasgow is already future-proofed, and Scotstoun will be with new infrastructure. On the back of more funding awards, we’re now looking at carrying out site surveys at other depots to understand what the next opportunity will be. We hope to secure more funding in the second round of the ScotZEB programme in the spring. We’re doing background work at the moment to work out what opportunities we have; some sites are easier to electrify than others. The cost per charger is the same, but the connection charge can be very different depending on location.”
E-depots and partnerships
I wondered whether there might be an opportunity to replace some existing depots with more suitable modern facilities. “I don’t think we’re at the point of considering that at this moment in time,” Duncan explained. “We will look at the cost of the work and any collaboration opportunities; you have to remember that everyone is in the same boat, and it may well be that we can collaborate with third parties to bring the cost down.
“We’re already at the stage where we’re using existing infrastructure here at Caledonia for third party charging. Once that’s generating commercial revenue, it helps to mitigate the huge costs involved. We’ve had a reasonable level of interest from third parties, but you have to bear in mind that the bus industry, with the help of Government funding, has been at the forefront of the transition to zero-emission so although the third parties we’re speaking to might be very interested, they don’t yet have the electric fleets to be able to use it. I think that, apart from cars and small vans, the rest of the transport industry is very much behind the bus sector.” In November, parcel delivery company DPD became the first to partner with First, providing access to Caledonia’s charging facilities for its fleet of electric vans.
The drive to recoup costs and make schemes more viable could mean an increasing number of operators looking to explore the option of shared infrastructure. At First’s Caledonia depot, this can be relatively easily and safely managed thanks to the geography of the site by the use of one area which is segregated from the main part of the depot, where vehicle movements are constant, and located close to the manned entrance barrier. However, operators will need to pay increasing attention to the long-term view and to depot layouts and safety requirements when planning such projects if they wish to successfully implement similar schemes.
Despite being future-proofed, First’s biggest depot in Glasgow will still have a need for diesel buses for a while yet, Duncan explained, while nearby Scotstoun will reach about 50% electric by the end of this year, he predicted. “The transition to zero-emission has been diversified across our networks,” he added. “A 40% zero-emission fleet is a great achievement already, but we’ve not focused on electrifying one depot then the next and so on.”
Challenges
Looking at the wider picture, Duncan said: “I think the cost is still a challenge for all operators when it comes to moving to zero-emission buses. I think there needs to be a continued funding mechanism for us to continue to make the progress we’re making. Progress elsewhere is still relatively slow, and a large part of the industry operates in a rural environment with high range requirements. The technology hasn’t quite reached the level needed yet.
“Hydrogen solutions are starting to come, with the ADL product coming on line now as well as the Wrightbus product. There are suggestions that overall prices will come down, and it does need to. There are still challenges, and the lifecycles are still unknown as well. We have a strategic partnership with Hitachi to provide batteries as a service, and we’re starting to see other non-traditional bus suppliers coming on-stream to support the switch. As an industry, we’ll get there eventually, but I can’t see the pace rapidly picking up any time soon.”
For operators, the growth in provision of the ‘as a service’ model represents a potentially easier route to electrification or hydrogen, but in an industry which is generally traditional and conservative, relying on external third parties could bring new fears or unknowns. Speaking about the Hitachi partnership, Duncan explained: “It’s early days but we’re starting to get good data through to help us understand the charging performance.”
Not everything has run smoothly, and the well-publicised withdrawal of the first hydrogen buses in Aberdeen and elsewhere in early 2021 to allow rectification of a potential fleet-wide structural issue exemplified the difficulties which can be experienced when dealing with new fleets; it should be stressed, though, that the fault was not with the hydrogen technology itself. “We transferred 10 buses from Glasgow to Aberdeen and still made service the next morning,” Duncan explained. “Wrightbus responded pretty quickly, and also managed to bring forward our second order for ten more buses for Aberdeen. Wrightbus also provides service engineers on site in Aberdeen during the week. The support from the manufacturer so far has been pretty responsive,” he added. The choice of Wrightbus vehicles has simplified Aberdeen’s second phase of hydrogen bus operation compared to the Van Hools used for an earlier trial, though the technology itself has also greatly improved in the intervening period.
Pride
From a more grass-roots perspective, Duncan said that the Wrightbus hydrogen buses in Aberdeen had been generally well-received by driving staff, proving much simpler to drive, with many similarities to existing diesel buses. Likewise, Glasgow’s BYD ADL electrics had also proven popular, he added. “Drivers enjoy driving them, and feedback has been very positive,” he said. “Whereas oil and gas is seen as a ‘dirty’ industry now, we’re trying to play on the opportunity to promote what we do not just to customers but to people wanting to work in a sector that is very much heading in the direction of addressing climate change.
“There’s a lot of pride too in being at the wheel of a half-million pound vehicle that offers the newest of the new when it comes to technology. We’ve also specified some of the latest buses with mirrorless technology. I thought it was going to be a hard sell. We had a bus on demonstration in 2019, and I remember going to look at it with a shop steward. The staff are saying to us that yes, it’s new and it’s changed, but they’re seeing the benefits of it all very quickly. Relying on two screens and technology rather than glass was a bit of a shift but it didn’t take long for staff to buy into it.
“The system provides much better views in all light conditions, and we’ve already seen a reduction in the number of mirror collisions with street furniture; there’s also the benefit of reduced drag at the higher speeds on routes like the airport express.
Another first for the company’s Scottish operation will be the introduction of Yutong buses into the Aberdeen operation, following on from experience at First West Yorkshire and a brief spell of the type bolstering the local BYD ADL electric fleet during COP26, as well as positive feedback from operators such as McGill’s. “Feedback from drivers was also good when we had them here for COP26. They’ve probably got the best range available at the moment,” Duncan added, noting that the price point was another attraction.
Driver shortage
Moving on, I asked about other factors affecting the industry post-pandemic. “I think the driver shortage is the biggest one,” Duncan said. “It’s the same across the board throughout the UK, passenger numbers are climbing back, and Glasgow and Aberdeen are looking very positive. We’re back to over 80% of pre-Covid passenger levels, but the number of people travelling with concessionary passes is stagnant. In late 2022, they remained as low as 60%. I don’t know if that’s because there’s still a fear factor, or whether people have changed their lifestyles and decided to reduce their working hours or stop working; there would have been a lot of people working who were entitled to a concessionary pass. There’s never been any evidence of a real Covid-19 risk on a bus any more than anywhere else, and we’ve tried to eliminate that perception. As an industry, we need to try and come up with some campaigns to get people back on board.
“The driver shortage is having the biggest impact though. We put pay rates up across Scotland last year, we have to remain competitive in the market. We’re changing as a business, we’re trying to be more inclusive, and we’ve done things to raise the profile of the role. We did some promotion with some Aberdeen FC players last year for example to promote the role.
“And we’re trying to make it more attractive by offering flexible working. We run engagement surveys every three months so we know how staff are feeling – unless you measure it, you can’t manage it. There’s a lot of work going on. There are inflationary pressures on the labour market but we’re trying to give people confidence that First Bus is a good place to work.”
Brexit has also had an impact on the bus sector, Duncan believes, not just directly but also indirectly as other industries have become more competitive for staff. “Everybody is struggling,” he added. “You have to accept that, whether it’s hospitality or retail, everyone is finding it hard to attract front-line staff. Regrettably, it’s having an impact on customers across all of those sectors, and we’re working hard to mitigate that as best as we can.”
Moving forwards and back out of the ‘post-Covid’ doldrums, where does the industry need to be, I asked. “We have to plan what the network is going to look like going forwards. We’re seeing different travel patterns now. The weekends can be busy, for example. The harsh reality is that if we don’t have the staff numbers that we need, we’ll have to re-allocate staff to where the most passengers are, but I’m confident that our response will ensure that passenger numbers will continue to grow as we adjust.”
More pluses
Despite the struggles of the last few years, the company saw some rewards, with First Glasgow winning an award for Contribution to Sustainable Transport for its completion of the UK’s largest electric vehicle charging hub and a commendation in the Public Transport Operator of the Year category at the Scottish Transport Awards, while First Aberdeen was recognised for its launch of the world’s first hydrogen double deckers in 2021.
The Scottish under-22s free travel concession scheme has also proved popular, Duncan said, and he anticipates further growth as a result of the scheme, which is helping to mitigate the drop in passenger numbers elsewhere. Glasgow’s night services, re-introduced in 2021, are also seeing gradual improvements in user numbers, he added, whilst the introduction of tap on, tap off payments in Glasgow last May has also been well-received by passengers as well as helping to reduce the barrier to travel of not having sufficient cash or knowing the fare.
Aberdeen-based King Coaches also remains in a strong position after its rebrand and fleet revamp, said Duncan. “We’re starting to get a lot of interest from new customers, and the team there are doing a great job,” he said. “The staff have really bought into the new fleet. We’re looking at whether there’s the opportunity to expand on what we have.”
Continuing the Aberdeen theme, Duncan said he was pleased that the city’s main thoroughfare had re-opened in 2021, having been closed during the pandemic to create extra space for pedestrians. “It’s a good thing for accessibility. The city centre will benefit from some place-making improvements – it’s sad to see so many empty shops on Union Street. But the harsh reality is that whilst buses may well have been re-routed past the retail and Union Square retail complex, there were no stopping arrangements in place,” said Duncan, there not being sufficient capacity at the existing stops, nor space to add more, “so accessibility to the city centre was made worse. It showed that bus passengers weren’t valued by anyone. It has also speeded journeys up again for those travelling across the city centre. It is vital to ensure that the new hierarchy of sustainable travel is maintained, with walking, cycling and bus needing to be attractive propositions. If there are to be any permanent changes to the city centre road network, we will be engaging with the local authority as to what that would look like.”
Looking back at Glasgow, progress is also being made towards the launch of a multi-operator app as part of the Glasgow Bus Partnership, Duncan explained, alongside improved multi-operator ticketing options. “We’re trying to say to local authorities ‘we’re doing our part here, we’re moving on’ – we understand the importance of multi-operator ticketing to stakeholders. We’re doing that off our own back through partnership working. We need local authorities to do their part by dealing with the road space to help buses move quicker.”
