Our Story

At First Bus we work hard to deliver a helpful, friendly, easy to use and reliable service for our customers. 

First Bus is one of the UK’s largest bus operators. From as far north as Aberdeen to as far south as Cornwall, your local First Bus company is connecting your community; helping people get to work, to education, attend appointments, go shopping or just go out for fun.  And we want to be a service you can depend on. 

Making journeys easier for our customers, we were the first national bus operator to accept contactless card payments across all of our services and our First Bus App is voted ‘best in class’ amongst UK bus operators. Our most recent investments are in new, state-of-the-art buses across our key networks.

We work proactively with our local authority partners, making a positive impact on air quality, tackling congestion and improving customer experience. We are focused on First Bus becoming a leader in the transition to a low-carbon future and are committed to operating a zero-emission bus fleet by 2035; we have pledged not to purchase any new diesel buses after December 2022.

We try hard to design bus routes and schedules that meet our local customers’ needs and do everything we can to run those services on time. 

We train our drivers to drive safely and responsibly, continually reinforcing respect for other road users among our workforce.  We expect our drivers to be polite, friendly and helpful. Our driver training emphasises safety and customer service, including keeping themselves, passengers, pedestrians, cyclists and other drivers safe.

First Aberdeen

First Aberdeen is the largest bus operator in the city with more than 176 buses and coaches carrying more than 16 million passengers across Aberdeen in the past 12 months. The company operates from its King Street bus depot and employs more than 450 staff. For more information, please visit www.firstaberdeen.com

First Scotland East

First Scotland East / First West Lothian / First Midland Bluebird Limited runs local bus services throughout Central Scotland and West Lothian including inter-urban links to Edinburgh and Glasgow. The company employs around 620 staff and operates 270 buses and coaches carrying more than 15 million passengers a year. The head office for First Scotland East is based in Larbert, near Falkirk, and it also operates from three other locations including Livingston, Balfron and Bannockburn. For more information please visit www.firstscotlandeast.com

First Glasgow

First Glasgow is the largest bus operator in the city running services on more than 80 different routes throughout the greater Glasgow and Lanarkshire areas. The company operates more than 800 buses and carried more than 95 million passengers over the past year. First Glasgow employs around 2,100 staff from five depots; Dumbarton, Gorbals, Scotstoun, Overtown and Blantyre. For more information please visit www.firstglasgow.com

Bright Bus Tours

Bright Bus Tours appeared on the growing Edinburgh Tour market scene in summer 2019. A new brand that was genuine, engaging and authentic but with a personality that clearly distinguished itself from our Parent Company, First Scotland East. With that launch, it introduced ‘The not boring bus tour’ – a new open top tour service in Scotland’s Capital.

Bright Bus is the result of an enormous team effort to create a brand-new venture for visitors and locals alike to enjoy. What’s more, it has been designed to make it as easy for people to access as possible, whether that is buying tickets online, as a download at home ticket, via the app or as an M-ticket, as well as from the Bright Bus street sellers.