UK Bus Operator of the Year sponsored by sponsored by Gallagher & QBE Insurance
Winner, Gold Award – Nottingham City Transport
It’s been a record 2 years of investment for NCT, with £42m invested on its fleet and infrastructure, upgrading its entire fleet to Euro VI. 130 brand new buses since 2017 and exhaust treatment systems fitted to 180 diesel buses has resulted in fleet emissions falling 90% and 8000 tonnes of CO2 and 70 tonnes of NOX emissions avoided in the last 12 months. Against English bus patronage outside London continuing to fall, NCT achieved commercial patronage growth of 1.3% on a stable network and is taking over two Park&Ride services commercially this year, which were at risk due to local authority budget pressures. Achieving 10 year high customer satisfaction scores across all 17 service features measured in 2018, buses turning up on time improved by over 2% to 92.5% and lost mileage reduced. A refreshed website and very successful, continually evolving app used by 70,000 registered customers, supported by new digital services like “Ask Alexa” make information easily accessible and going further, NCT has embraced Bus Services Act open data requirements, publishing its Open Data Portal 6 months ahead of the legislative deadline.
Achieving ten year high customer satisfaction scores across all service features measured, reducing lost mileage, and running services on Boxing Day for the first time are just three of NCT’s achievements. This year NCT has also refreshed its website, and its continually evolving app is used by seventy thousand registered customers. It has also made its bus times available on the Amazon smart speaker. In fact NCT has embraced the Bus Services Act open data requirements, publishing its Open Data Portal six months ahead of the legislative deadline.
Winner, Silver Award – Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire
Our entry is all about partnership, innovation and strong operational delivery. We have delivered high quality services over a number of years culminating in a 93% overall satisfaction score in the 2018 Transport Focus survey. Partnership working with councils, universities and other operators has driven customer growth. Strong partnerships with community organisations have helped vulnerable people back onto the bus and assisted families in need. Innovation within the company particularly in the field of health and wellbeing has improved staff engagement and new ways of partnering with communities have kept marginal services operating. Underlying this is a strong focus on customers & safety with new ways of engaging staff significantly reducing accidents.
Winner, Bronze Award – Ensignbus
Ensign is a rare breed. Not only in being an independent operating one of the most modern fleets of any of its peers, on a fully commercial network, but also in showing year-on-year revenue and passenger increases in every single one of the past 15 years. This has been achieved against a backdrop of operating in one of the UK’s busiest and most congested areas thus providing extreme operating conditions for such successes.
Consistently impressing the judges with its ability to maximise commercial opportunities and an excellent service.
