First Bus completes group wide Optibus rollout

Optibus has completed the digital transformation of scheduling data, processes and systems across all First Bus operations in the UK. The move will deliver what the two parties describe as better and more efficient services, and smoother and faster work processes for schedulers. 

It is the culmination of a five-year partnership between the two parties that has seen First Bus test many new Optibus features in live environments. That has seen the supplier’s product tailored to real-life scenarios and challenges faced by operators, including the deployment of zero-emission vehicles and the delivery of cost efficiencies and network redesign to meet new travel patterns. 

The migration has already delivered “significant operational savings” across all of First Bus’s subsidiaries, as well as having simplified the process of making network changes. Optibus says its system used advanced artificial intelligence to deliver those markers.

The operator “now has the capability to be more agile with network decision making and to explore enhancement to work patterns and rosters using advanced duty optimisation algorithms and an automated roster product,” it says in a statement. 

Adds Chief Commercial Officer Simon Pearson (pictured, right): “The implementation will improve the lives of staff and our customers while making us more agile as a business in facing new challenges and delivering the best possible service. 

“We look forward to continuing to work in partnership with the team at Optibus to discover opportunities for improvement and to push the UK public transport industry forward.” 

Optibus General Manager EMEA Dave Joshua (pictured, left) says that the supplier is grateful for First’s insight and is “proud to count [the operator] as one of our partners in making public transport better together.”