Yellow Buses “fountain of knowledge” Graham Atkins (pictured) has been shortlisted in the finals of the Joe Wood Scheduler of the Year Award for 2021.
The inaugural awards, named for the late young bus manager Joe Wood, were launched by scheduling and planning tech supplier CitySwift to recognise the vital role that schedulers play, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted their work.
Yellow Buses reveals its network was updated 15 times during the pandemic, and each time Graham produced schedules for drivers, timetables for the public, updated the ticket machines and changed the destination blinds.
“Graham’s can-do attitude is a breath of fresh air,” the judges say. “He is willing to take on additional responsibilities that a traditional scheduler would not see as part of their role – from making sure the right duties are loaded into the ticket machine to ensuring that the journey planner on the website, the real timings on the roadside and the bus open data are all correct and aligned.
Adds David Squire, Managing Director of Yellow Buses: “I am absolutely delighted for Graham, he thoroughly deserves his place as a finalist in this competition, he is a fountain of knowledge of all things Yellow Buses, and can turn his hand to anything. Nothing is too much trouble and he goes above and beyond in ensuring that every last detail is sorted.”
Graham will travel to Galway on 25 February for the ceremony and is up against competition from schedulers working for FirstGroup, Stagecoach, National Express West Midlands and Abellio.
