Bus operator First UK Bus has launched a new mobile website designed to enable its customers access First bus information from smartphones.

Published: 26 Sep 2011

Bus operator First UK Bus has launched a new mobile website designed to enable its customers access First bus information from smartphones.

First’s home page, www.firstgroup.com/ukbus, which incorporates all First’s operating company websites, currently attracts in the region of 325,000 visits from mobile users per month (in total First UK Bus receives almost 1.5 million web visits per month). First expects the new mobile website, which covers all First operating areas, will help increase visits to around 400,000 in the medium to long term.

Giles Fearnley, MD of First UK Bus, said, “Increasingly our customers are using smartphones to access timetables and other important information. Our new mobile website will make that process altogether easier.”

“We think it’s the best and most sophisticated mobile site in the industry,” said Fearnley.

Fearnley added that First was keen to have the new system in place before the winter months. “In December 2010, when the weather was at its worst and services across the country had difficulties, our website handled 265,000 visits in just one day.

“Not only have we invested in the mobile site, but we have also substantially increased our band capacity to handle high volumes of web traffic. Particularly in atrocious weather conditions it is essential that our customers can quickly and easily access our websites for the latest travel information.”

The company recently chose to invest £27m in new ticketing technology for its 5,000 strong bus fleet in England, outside London.

The company intends to be the first bus operator outside London to offer customers ‘touch in touch out’ contactless payment. The new ticket machines, designed to read contactless debit or credit cards, in addition to ITSO smartcards such as concessionary bus passes, will be introduced to buses from the autumn and will initially allow customers with an ITSO smartcard to touch in. Contactless bank cards will be accepted across England from late 2012.

The company explained that First’s new ticketing system will act much like London’s Oyster Card; customers will simply ‘touch in’ and ‘touch out’ using their debit or credit card, taking less than a second, and avoiding the need to carry the correct change. The system will also allow FirstGroup to offer a range of tickets including capping the daily fare. But unlike Oyster customers won’t need to carry an additional card or worry about pre-payment or topping up. Customers using the contactless cards will simply see the cost of the fare deducted from their bank or credit card balance.

FirstGroup’s UK Bus division carries approximately 2.5 million customers a day in more than 40 major towns and cities.