First York
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First York is the largest bus operator in York, England. It is part of First Group, a major bus and train operator with a turnover of nearly £2.5 billion a year and 62,000 employees across the UK and North America.[1] The York depot is in James Street, and maintains a fleet of 106 buses.
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[edit] Fleet
A breakdown of the buses operated by First York is as follows:
- 11 Volvo B7LA/Wright StreetCar
- 34 Volvo B7L/Wright Eclipse - B41F
- 29 Volvo B6BLE/Wright Crusader II - B38F
- 12 Volvo B7TL/Alexander ALX400 - H49/27F
- 9 Volvo B7LA/Wright Eclipse Fusion - AB56D
- 5 Volvo B7RLE/Wright Eclipse Urban - B43F
- 2 Optare Solo - B26F
- 3 Leyland Olympian/Eastern Coach Works - H45/32F
- 2 Leyland Olympian/Optare - H47/27F
- 1 Optare Solo - B27F
The oldest vehicle is 30679, a Leyland Olympian with Eastern Coach Works bodywork, delivered new to Reynard Buses of York in January 1984. The other four Olympians in the fleet were manufactured between 1984 and 1987. The youngest vehicles are the 11 Wright StreetCars that make up the new ftr fleet. 2001 and 2002 were significant years, for they marked the arrival of the B7Ls, B6BLEs, B7TLs and Optare Solos - 86 new vehicles in the space of a two year period represents significant investment in the First York fleet.
[edit] Services
There are thirteen colour-coded Overground routes (numbers 1-13) which operate at weekday frequencies of between eight and thirty minutes, and a further six services with less intensive frequencies (numbers 14, 16/17, 18/X18, 22/23, 26 and 27).[2]
[edit] ftr
In May 2006, First York became the first bus operator in the UK to introduce Volvo/Wright StreetCars as part of the 'ftr' scheme being trialled in the city. A partnership between First Group, Wright Group and City of York Council, ftr is marketed as a "truly groundbreaking service...the future of travel."[3] Eleven articulated StreetCars now operate on the number 4 route which links the University of York, the City Centre and the suburb of Acomb. Each bus can carry 41 seated and 67 standing passengers.
These buses contain a driving compartment separating the 'pilot' from the passengers, and will use satellite tracking technology to give traffic light priority to late running buses. Also, instead of paying a driver or conductor, passengers must buy tickets from automated ticket machines that only accept exact change. Much was made in the marketing of the ftr of the ability to buy 'm-tickets' on mobile phones, and prepaid tickets which can be scanned by the ticket machines. However, these have not yet come into operation, and it is not clear when, or if, they will do.
The ftr scheme has been largely unpopular with people in York for a number of reasons, such as problems with ticketing, pricing, buses not running to schedule, and difficulties caused by the excessive length of the vehicles.
The ftr scheme has lead to extension of bus stop areas to accommodate the length of these vehicles, however in many cases this has been done in contravention of the guidance given in the council's highway design document leading to ftr's blocking the road at keep left bollards, thus causing unnecessary congestion and frustration for other road users.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Stuart Martin, Bill Potter and David Donati (eds.), "2005 First Bus Handbook", page 5. British Bus Publishing, 2005
- ^ First York website - 6th April 2006
- ^ First Group's ftr website - 6th April 2006
