UK Bus Awards

The annual UK Bus Awards have been announced, some of which are listed below.

Operating Awards

Top Express Coach Operation, sponsored by Volvo Bus

Winner: National Express operation, Travel de Courcey
Runner-up: Express City Connect, Stagecoach East Scotland
Highly Commended: Greyhound Express, First Cymru

Top National Bus Depot, sponsored by Personal Group

Winner: Crawley, Metrobus
Runner-up: Blyth, Arriva North East

Highly Commended: Southport, Arriva North West & Wales
Bolton, First Manchester
Hengrove, First Bristol
Newport, Southern Vectis

Top City Operator, sponsored by BAE Systems

Winner: Stagecoach Manchester
Runner-up: Lothian Buses

Highly Commended: Abellio London
Go North East
Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire

Top Shire Operator, sponsored by Ticketer

Winner: Reading Buses
Runner-up: Stagecoach South West

Highly Commended: Metrobus
Travel de Courcey
Transdev Burnley & Pendle      

Top Independent Operator, sponsored by Scania

Winner: Norfolk Green
Runner-up: Courtney Buses

Highly Commended: Compass Travel
Ensignbus
Perryman’s Buses

UK Bus Operator of the Year, sponsored by Belmont International and QBE Insurance  

Winner: Stagecoach Manchester
Runner-up: Reading Buses

Technical & Professional Awards

Environment Award, sponsored by Bus & Coach Professional magazine

Winner: Leading the Way for Greener Transport, Lothian Buses

Joint Runner-up: A Breath of Fresh Air, Reading Buses
Joint Runner-up: Sustainability Success, Stagecoach Group

Highly Commended: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle programme, FirstGroup
NOx abatement programme, Transport for London
Coventry Park & Ride South electric vehicle project, Travel de Courcey & partners

Award for Innovation, sponsored by Alexander Dennis

Winner: uTrack & National Express, uTrack Software Solutions
Runner-up: The Sheffield Bus Partnership, South Yorkshire PTE & partners

Highly Commended: The Safer Travel Command Centre, Centro
Bus for Us, Confederation of Passenger Transport UK
Hybrid power flywheel project, Go-Ahead Group & Williams Hybrid Power      
Bus for Jobs, Greener Journeys
Special Commendation: Denis Noble (First Aberdeen)

Putting Passengers First - The Claudia Flanders Memorial Award, sponsored by INIT

Winner: Dedicated to Accessibility for Everyone, Reading Buses
Runner-up: Star Access, Bluestar

Highly Commended: One-way £1 fare for Under 19s, Dales Integrated Transport Alliance
Delivering service and innovation, Go North East
The Digital Customer, Lothian Buses
Ride around for £1, North Yorkshire County Council
Improving customer relations through social media, Stagecoach East Scotland

Making Buses a Better Choice – the Peter Huntley memorial award, sponsored by Heathrow Airport

Winner: The Sheffield Bus Partnership, South Yorkshire PTE & partners
Runner-up: SupertramLink, Stagecoach in Sheffield

Highly Commended: Using demand responsive transport to meet the needs of rural communities, Essex County Council
Eclipse, First Hampshire & Dorset and Hampshire County Council
Service 10 – Buses for Everyone, Lothian Buses
Go2 Yellow Line, take the weight off your feet and be sure of a seat, Nottingham City Transport
A Platform for Growth, Unilink & Bluestar
The Busway, Stagecoach East

Local Authority Bus Project of the Year

Winner: Sheffield Bus Partnership, Sheffield City Council & partners
Runner-up: The Improved A65 – Travel the Easyway, Metro & partners

Highly Commended: Birmingham City Centre Interchange, Centro
Integrating transport in Devon, Devon County Council

The Eureka! Award for Marketing Initiatives, sponsored by Passenger Transport magazine

Joint Winner: The Green Angels, Go North East

Joint Winner:   Bus for Jobs, Greener Journeys

Highly Commended: It's alive, it's electric! frankenbus,  Arriva North East & Arriva Yorkshire
Save Manchester, First Manchester
Your bus ticket on your mobile - simply buy, show and go, Go North East
Adoption of social media for business and consumer benefit, Stagecoach UK Bus
yLink youth travel card, Translink

Award for Marketing Excellence, sponsored by CBS Outdoor

Winner: Maximising the Brand, Go North East
Runner-up: Creating strong passenger growth, Stagecoach in Sheffield

Highly Commended: More, more, more!, more bus
Creating a strong brand image, Lloyds Coaches
Digital integration, Megabus UK
The brighter bus company, Yellow Buses

The Bus & the Community Award, sponsored by Euro Bus Expo 2014

Winner: Go Learn, Go-Ahead Group
Runner-up: Making the grade, First West Yorkshire

Highly Commended: Police Liaison Officer initiative, Brighton & Hove
Go Blue for Prostate Scotland, Lothian Buses
Clifton Diamond Jubilee celebrations, Nottingham City Transport
Bus Driver Cycle Awareness, Stagecoach London

Services to the Bus Industry, sponsored by Buses magazine

• Peter Newman, Ensignbus
• Barrie Etchells, Belmont International

                                                                                                                                    Haydn Davies 

London Awards

London Bus Garage of the Year, sponsored by Transport for London

Winner: West Ham, Stagecoach London
Runner-up: New Cross, Go-Ahead London

Highly Commended: Barking, Stagecoach East London
Cricklewood, Metroline
Hounslow, London United
Orpington, Metrobus
 

See here for the full list of awards


SEE ALSO THE LATEST ON THE FOCUS FLICKR SITE

A recent visit by David Gambles to Busworld the major European bus and coach show at Kortrijk in Belgium can be viewed here