York will soon be home to one of the biggest fleets of double deck electric buses outside of London, thanks to a significant investment by First York and funding secured by City of York Council from the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV).
Today (25 March), City of York Council, First York and bus manufacturer Optare have announced that 21 new double deck electric vehicles will arrive in York in October 2019. The zero-emission and fully electric buses each have the capacity to carry 99 passengers and have a range of over 150 miles from one overnight charge, which means that they don’t need to be recharged during the day. Alongside this, First York is also upgrading its charging infrastructure, and the state-of-the-art vehicles will feature audio visual next stop technology, USB charging points and will carry new-look Park & Ride branding.
York Park & Ride, an operating partnership between City of York Council and First York, supports over four million journeys every year and is one of the UK’s most successful Park & Ride services. 12 electric single deck Optare buses have been operating on two out of the six Park & Ride sites for the last five years; helping to improve air quality and reduce congestion in the city. Individual car use and the congestion caused is a big contributor to air pollution in York, but each bus can take up to 75 cars off the congested streets in York.
Councillor Peter Dew, Executive Member for Transport and Planning, said: "I’m delighted that City of York Council has been successful in securing funding from the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) towards the cost of these new buses and I welcome First York’s ongoing investment in the Park & Ride fleet."
Councillor Andrew Waller, Executive Member for the Environment, said: "We’re committed to tackling congestion and reducing air pollution in the city, and these new zero-emission, electric buses will play a key role in helping us to achieve these objectives by taking more cars off the road and making Park & Ride a truly sustainable form of transport."
Marc Bichtemann, Managing Director of First York, said: "We’re proud to be the operator of one of the biggest fleets of double deck electric buses outside of London, as we continue to work with City of York Council to improve air quality in York.
"Today’s announcement showcases the benefits of partnership working in practice and we remain committed to investing in our bus services in York, as we share the same vision. By working together, local authorities and bus operators can make a real impact on congestion and air quality, provide better services for our customers, support local economies more effectively and, ultimately, help to increase passenger numbers.
"At First York, we are striving to make things better for the customer by making bus travel simple, speeding up bus boarding times, reducing journey times, using data to make better operational decisions and developing a customer relationship as opposed to a transactional one."
Optare’s Commercial Director, Robert Drewery, added: "Optare is delighted to continue its electric journey with First York. In 2014, our electric single deck Versas began operation on the city’s Park & Ride service. We have built on five years of valuable EV experience in York to develop our product range. In 2017, Optare partnered with First and City of York Council in launching our prototype electric double deck into service. The lessons learned during the trial have been fundamental in shaping the design of the Metrodecker EV, the world’s first truly zero emissions double deck bus. Optare is particularly proud that our vehicle, designed and manufactured in Yorkshire, will be at the centre of continued air quality improvements in York."
Transport Minister Nusrat Ghani said: "Buses are vital for taking cars off the road, driving down emissions and cleaning up our air, and I am delighted that York are now set to do this with a cleaner, greener fleet – made possible through £3.3 million awarded under the 2016 Low Emission Bus Scheme.
"This scheme, along with our Ultra Low Emission Bus Scheme, continue to help the sector to reduce emissions and make buses an increasingly sustainable form of transport.’’
ENDS
For further information, please contact Fiona Yeadon, Lead PR Manager at First Bus on 0797 050 7783 or email [email protected]
First York
First York is the largest bus operator in the region and operates the York Park & Ride scheme in conjunction with City of York Council. More than 100 buses transport around 50,000 people every day across York. The company operates from its James Street depot and its George Hudson Street office and employs more than 250 staff.
For more information on First York please visit www.firstgroup.com/york and for York Park & Ride visit https://www.itravelyork.info/park-and-ride
First Bus
First Bus is one of the largest bus operators in the UK, serving towns and cities across the country, with a fleet of over 5,700 buses carrying 1.6 million passenger a day. The business is:
• Focussed on improving the customer experience through investment in driver training, new technology and operations.
• Influencing customer behaviour through investment in the right digital channels, which includes smarter ticketing options and developing our apps, Web2mobile and CRM systems.
• Working in partnership with local authorities to combat road congestion.
• Committed to investing in vehicles with ultra-low emissions that assist with improving air quality.
For more information about First Bus please visit www.firstgroup.com
FirstGroup
FirstGroup is a leading provider of transport services in the UK and North America. With £6.4 billion in revenue and around 100,000 employees, we transported 2.1 billion passengers last year.
Whether for business, education, health, social or recreation – we get our customers where they want to be, when they want to be there. We create solutions that reduce complexity, making travel smoother and life easier.
We provide easy and convenient mobility, improving quality of life by connecting people and communities.
Each of our five divisions is a leader in its field: In North America, First Student is the largest provider of home-to-school student transportation with a fleet of 42,000 yellow school buses, First Transit is one of the largest providers of outsourced transit management and contracting services, while Greyhound is the only nationwide operator of scheduled intercity coaches. In the UK, First Bus is one of Britain's largest bus companies with 1.6 million passengers a day, and First Rail is one of the country's largest and most experienced rail operators, carrying more than 260 million passengers in 2017/18.