Partnerships
Enabling people to move efficiently is essential to economic prosperity. Strong partnerships are necessary to achieve this.
Across the business we rely on partnerships to deliver our services and to help us develop new and effective ways of improving our public transport and contract services.
- In the UK, in particular, our relationships with local authorities and Passenger Transport Executives are vital. The best solutions for customers happen where local infrastructure providers and bus services work together.
- There is growing evidence of effective collaboration in initiatives such as end-to-end journeys and cross-operator ticketing.
- In our Rail division we work closely with the infrastructure provider, Network Rail, to improve service performance and reduce environmental impacts.
- Our supply chain partnerships are fundamental to our services and help us drive safety and environmental improvements.
- Partnerships with organisations such as the National Safety Council, schools and community groups are vital in reducing passenger injury rates and promoting community safety.
- Every contract service is a partnership in which we work together to provide best-in-class, safe, reliable services.
- We continually seek to strengthen these partnerships and others to provide ever better services that help communities prosper now and in the future.
Working with the National Safety Council in North America
Through our long-term relationship with the National Safety Council we work to raise safety awareness, particularly with regard to school transportation. This year we collaborated to create a safety awareness campaign and website which reinforces back-to-school safety messages.
Making a difference to school transportation in North America
The safety of the children on our buses goes beyond ensuring their physical safety and includes their broader welfare. All our drivers are trained in identifying the signs of bullying and how to prevent it and we work with those schools where such issues arise. We encourage teachers and school administrators to attend our site safety meetings on topics ranging from bullying and child behaviour to adverse weather driving.
Extending access to Greyhound services
At Greyhound we launched a very successful partnership with 7-Eleven which increases customer access to online ticket deals. Around 50% of Greyhound customers pay by cash. This initiative allows people to order tickets online or by phone and then pay in cash at local 7-Eleven convenience stores. It removes the need to travel to a Greyhound Terminal and extends internet fare access to those without access to credit cards.
Working with Mansfield Oil
Greyhound has joined forces with Mansfield Oil to make ticket purchase as convenient as possible. Over the next five years the companies will work together to relocate Greyhound agencies to retail convenience stores off the highway, making them accessible to far greater sections of the community.
Driving safety and environmental improvements for First Transit customers
In partnership with DriveCam, First Transit is helping its customers to improve safety and reduce fuel consumption. We have committed to a five-year contract to deploy DriveCam on up to 6,000 vehicles. Video data combined with real-time driver feedback helps reduce collisions and fuel consumption. Fuel savings of up to 12% can be achieved.
Working with Greener Journeys
Through the Greener Journeys campaign (a network of UK bus operators, key stakeholders and lobby groups) we promote the importance of bus travel to the UK economy and in meeting carbon reduction targets. Operators work together to campaign for policies that will encourage greater uptake of bus travel.
Improving customer service
Our UK Bus division has wide-ranging partnerships with local authorities and passenger transport executives (many involve other operators) to stimulate bus service improvements with particular emphasis on punctuality. Initiatives include cross-operator ticketing (such as Optio in Sheffield), joint improvements to service quality and infrastructure (e.g. the Showcase routes in Bristol) and voluntary codes of conduct for buses (such as Transport for Greater Manchester). We also participate in the multi-operator travelcard schemes and ticketing companies in many areas.
Supporting Community Rail Partnerships
In our Rail division we are actively involved in a number of Community Rail Partnerships (CRPs) supporting smaller communities on our networks. The partnerships have enabled disused and neglected suburban and rural branch lines to thrive and connect communities to high speed networks, supporting the economic development of these communities.
Supply chain partnerships
Through our sustainable procurement programme we work with our suppliers to reduce our environmental impact and ensure a positive social impact. For example, we have improved our vehicles' fuel efficiency, reduced carbon emissions and cut waste from our own operations and from the supply chain. We have also improved reliability and durability of parts and products, thus raising customer satisfaction and reducing waste and emissions. Read more about our supply chain partnerships.
