First Bus has been named Scotland’s Public Transport Operator of the Year 2025 at the Scottish Transport Awards in Glasgow.
The award, which is open to all Scottish bus, rail, tram and ferry operators, celebrates the performance of First Bus across Greater Glasgow and Aberdeen over the last year. The operator completed over 96.5 million passenger journeys, growing year-on-year, connecting more people and communities with employment, education and leisure activities.
First Bus was recognised for its efforts to improve customer experience, reduce journey times and improve reliability, while showcasing its value in the communities it serves and attracting new customers to bus.
Its investment in zero-emission buses and infrastructure was also commended as the operator continues its commitment to running a fully zero-emission fleet by 2035 with over 270 zero-emission buses in operation across Greater Glasgow and Aberdeen.
First Bus also extended its B2B electric charging offering to support businesses across the city in their transition to zero-emission transport with Openreach, Police Scotland, Ember Coaches and West Coast Motors all using the First Bus charging infrastructure, showcasing the benefits of partnership working inside and outside the transport sector.
The operator collected a second award on the night for Excellence in Technology and Innovation, receiving recognition for its ground-breaking use of AI-driven timetables to improve reliability for customers on its services across Scotland.
Using the latest AI technology and First Bus network planning expertise, the operator has introduced new timetables on over 60 services in the last 12 months to improve their performance.
This combined approach means the new timetables reflect real life experience, taking into consideration external factors such as road conditions and congestion, with several routes experiencing improvements in punctuality by over 30% as a result.
Duncan Cameron, First Bus Scotland Managing Director, said: “I am delighted First Bus has been recognised as Scotland’s Public Transport Operator of the Year.
“We have worked extremely hard to make real, tangible changes to the overall customer experience while also doing everything in our power to ensure our services across Greater Glasgow and Aberdeen are more reliable for passengers.
“The award belongs to our thousands of colleagues across the country whose tireless efforts every day ensure we continue to deliver for our customers.”