Faizan Ahmad has been appointed Decarbonisation Programme Director by First Bus. He joins from Amazon, where he led Europe-wide electric vehicle charging strategy workstreams, and with First Bus will spearhead the operator’s environmental, decarbonisation and fleet product development.
Key to those responsibilities is First’s mission to achieve a fully zero-emission bus fleet by 2035, although the business says that it “is accelerating its new sustainability plans to actively minimise its impact on the environment.” Mr Ahmad will report to Chief Sustainability Officer Isabel McAllister.
Speaking about the appointment of Mr Ahmad, Ms McAllister says: “I am delighted that Faizan has joined us at First Bus to help drive forward our decarbonisation agenda as we all focus on reaching our 2035 goals.
“We are in the process of a big organisational transformation, moving from being an asset-based business focused on buses, to one that is more customer- and service-orientated, which puts people and the planet at the heart of everything we do.
“Our culture as a business is changing for the better against the backdrop of all our decarbonisation efforts, and we are super excited to welcome someone of Faizan’s experience to help shape and deliver our ambitious goals in this area.”
Adds Mr Ahmad: “I am excited to be joining First Bus to help the organisation to deliver a very exciting and industry-leading agenda in the decarbonisation of public transport in the UK.
“The bus industry has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to change how people travel and encourage more people to take public transport as we transition to zero-emission.
“This is a crucial time for the transport sector, as both employees and customers are increasingly concerned about the environmental impact of their travel choices.”