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First Bus new livery being rolled out.

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Lrd

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Hello all,

Just to let you know that First have updated the livery on at least one of their buses in Southampton. I saw it today and was too slow to take a pic, hopefully I will see it again soon.

If I'm honest, it isn't the best looking livery out there!

Hope this is useful to some people.
 
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bb21

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Since you have brought it up, I will attach the article in last month's Buses magazine, in case some people missed it.

It is interesting to note that they're now going back to the local approach by painting on the buses the local subsidiary name and the depot name too.
 

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Schnellzug

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It is interesting to note that they're now going back to the local approach by painting on the buses the local subsidiary name and the depot name too.

Yes in the example they gave, it's a little speech bubble with "I'm cared for by the Hunslet Park depot team". How cringingly anthropomorphic.
 

Ivo

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I have one concern about this whole "I'm cared for by the [depot] team" - and it's local. Bath's Depot just happenes to be called Weston Island. How many people in and around Bath will suddenly believe that the maintenance depot is in Weston-super-Mare and that Bath Depot is merely an outside storage area? :roll:

'Old' First seemed to hold the strings firmly from its recently rebuilt global headquarters in Aberdeen, but the new regime recognises that 98% of bus passengers rarely travel beyond their own area and that each part of its business must engage closely with all the people who matter in that locality.

[From Buses, as per bb21's post]

I take it I'm in the minority then? Nothing new there...
 

CC 72100

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I liked the old livery if I'm honest, but I can understand why they've changed with this new 'local' look. My theory is that People often think more of local, personalised companies where they feel as if they are being treated as 'special' by an operator aware of the local area. By plastering the local place all over the buses, the new livery goes some way into achieveing that, making this national operator have a friendlier, local face... or at least that's what they're aiming for in my view.
 
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Schnellzug

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I have one concern about this whole "I'm cared for by the [depot] team" - and it's local. Bath's Depot just happenes to be called Weston Island. How many people in and around Bath will suddenly believe that the maintenance depot is in Weston-super-Mare and that Bath Depot is merely an outside storage area? :roll:



[From Buses, as per bb21's post]

I take it I'm in the minority then? Nothing new there...

I must admit, seeing Buses in Bath with 'Weston' on the blind, does have the potential for confusion.

the new regime recognises that 98% of bus passengers rarely travel beyond their own area and that each part of its business must engage closely with all the people who matter in that locality.
Do they really? I assume they mean that 98% of people rarely use Buses beyond their local area, not that they never venture outside of their own village. 'These are local buses for Local People'. Stagecoach seem to have got on reasonably well with a strong national brand, don't they.
 

tbtc

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The best thing about the new livery is the rear - http://www.flickr.com/photos/thebustocrookes/6903557827/in/photostream/ - this works well with the Wright bodywork - it uses the "W" under the bottom window to get the "lightening" affect.

Stagecoach seem to have got on reasonably well with a strong national brand, don't they.

Yes, although Stagecoach do have the name of the local area on the bus (usually above the door). Its the kind of tiny details that most people won't notice (but enthusiasts get excited about).

For example we have "Stagecoach in Sheffield" (for the former Yorkshire Terrier depots), Stagecoach in Yorkshire (for the former Yorkshire Traction depots) and Stagecoach in Chesterfield (former Chesterfield Transport operations). But I doubt 98% of passengers notice/ appreciate the difference
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Yes in the example they gave, it's a little speech bubble with "I'm cared for by the Hunslet Park depot team". How cringingly anthropomorphic.

I hate all of that: "Sorry I'm Not In Service" on buses, "Caution - I'm Hot" on coffee cups - pathetic stuff.
 

Schnellzug

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On the question of corporate identity, it does seem daft that each division has its own website, and only believes that their own services exist and don't even acknowledge their neighbours. For instance, on the S&A site it says

Timetables

Please note that all timetables for services in Yeovil can now be found on the First Bus Dorset site.

Would it be too difficult to just redirect to it?
 

Schnellzug

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i suppose to be entirely fair it is much more difficult to ensure that 95 per cent of their services are no more than one minute early or five minutes late than it is (or should be) on the Railways, since traffic congestion & roadworks and everything else are completely out of their hands; but on the other hand, Bus companies (not just First) will insist on allowing the same time for all services regardless of the time of day & how much traffic there's likely to be.
What they really could have some control over, though, is making sure that services depart at the time stated in the timetable, when all too often that seems to be treated as the time for the driver to wrap up chatting with his mate, get comfy, sort out their change, and then move round to the stand.
 

Ivo

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New First company logo should read "If you believe in fairies, then you'll believe our next bus will actually turn up."

http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereve...-watchdog-after-one-in-four-services-run-late

Remind me to carry out a survey in Bath <D

I would be very surprised if they meet that target here. Some of the timetables are appalling - and inconsistent between routes. I have to say though that the worst offender is the route I use the most:

Grand Parade xx10
Bus Station xx12
Oldfield Park xx23
Rudmore Park xx34
Bath Spa Uni xx42

Bath Spa Uni xx05
Rudmore Park xx13
Oldfield Park xx24
Bus Station xx35
Grand Parade xx39

The above are the standard times on the SPA1 route. To operate to these times correctly, the drivers have to travel at <20mph on a very busy stretch of the A4 - and still tend to run early. It's worse at night; sometimes they arrive here TEN minutes early!
 

vicbury

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I have one concern about this whole "I'm cared for by the [depot] team" - and it's local. Bath's Depot just happenes to be called Weston Island. How many people in and around Bath will suddenly believe that the maintenance depot is in Weston-super-Mare and that Bath Depot is merely an outside storage area? :roll:

Don't worry, with the state of the vehicles in Bath, if they put "I'm cared for..." on the side of them, First will be liable to being prosecuted for false advertising!
 
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