Bus-y day for local families as First Aberdeen marks milestone year
- First Aberdeen celebrated serving the city for a landmark 125 years
- Thousands of locals attended the Family Open Day last weekend
- Aberdonians across the city enjoyed ‘125 acts of kindness’ throughout August
Thousands of Aberdonians took a step back in time and boarded buses of the past as part of First Aberdeen’s month-long activity to celebrate 125 years of public transport in the city.
Vintage vehicles dating back as far as the 1930s were on display, standing proud alongside the transport operator’s new fleet of electric and hydrogen vehicles, with visitors invited on board to experience the evolution of bus through the decades.
It was a bus-y day with thousands of people in attendance. In addition to the buses, food stalls, balloon modelling, face painting and opportunities to go through the famous ‘bus-wash’ were on offer to the public. The free event thanked Aberdonians for their support and recognised the history of transport in the city.
Duncan Cameron, Managing Director of First Bus Scotland said: “We were thrilled to host our Open Day to mark a month-long celebration of our milestone with Aberdeen locals. Public transport can be traced back across generations in Aberdeen, and we’re proud to have been a constant in people’s lives, growing and developing side by side with our brilliant city. The enthusiasm and interest shown from the thousands who attended reaffirms how important public transport is to our city.
“Our partnerships with local businesses who helped us deliver 125 acts of kindness each week was a great way for us to give a little something back to the local community and celebrate the great local businesses we’re surrounded by.
“The 125th anniversary provided an opportunity for everyone in Aberdeen to show how much they care about bus travel, and we have been overwhelmed by the positive response we’ve had to our celebrations.”
Throughout August, Aberdonians were treated to 125 acts of kindness each week, as the bus operator partnered with four local businesses to offer giveaways. These included Mackie’s 19.2 ice cream parlour offering 125 free ‘First Bus Scoops’, Aberdeen Football Club gifting 125 free match day tickets, Second Home Aberdeen giving out 125 free coffees a day and finally, Vegan Bay Baker giving 125 freshly baked treats out each day for a week.
Kirsty Cameron, owner of Second Home Café and Studio Aberdeen, said: “We were so grateful to be part of this incredible giveaway with First Bus.
“Our small, independent café opened in 2020 and has faced significant challenges since. This partnership allowed us to connect with new faces in our community which will hopefully form ongoing, lasting relationships.”
First Aberdeen can trace its roots back to 1898 when the Aberdeen Corporation Tramways were first introduced. The current fleet is made up of over 100 buses - 40 per cent of which are emission free following the delivery of 24 new electric vehicles back in July.
The arrival of these buses marks the latest in First Aberdeen’s series of steps to decarbonise its operations as we aim to be emission free by 2035.
It is incredibly proud to bring more sustainable travel to Aberdeen joining the hydrogen buses already in operation, and it is hoped this will encourage even more people to leave cars behind in favour of environmentally conscious bus travel that will help to reduce congestion and improve air quality in the city.
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Second Home Aberdeen - 125 Acts of Kindness Social Media Reel -> https://www.instagram.com/reel/CwX8M5qoWZr/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
About First Bus
First Bus is one of the UK’s largest bus operators. 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 also operate the Aircoach network in Ireland.
First Bus is a division of FirstGroup.
First Bus is an equal opportunity employer
First Bus is an excellent place to work with opportunities for a rewarding career.
We are committed to equality of opportunity, diversity and inclusion. We believe diverse experiences and attitudes help us better understand the needs of our customers.
For more information on First Bus: news-scot.firstbus.co.uk