First Glasgow supports clean Glasgow as Council leader launches busduster initiative

GLASGOW’S leading bus operator was today (April 16) joined by Glasgow City Council Leader Councillor Steven Purcell to launch a hit-squad aimed at helping make First buses the tidiest in town.

Councillor Purcell was joined by First Managing Director Mark Savelli for the launch of the first phase of the Company’s BusDusters initiative.

A special BusDusters van, manned by a six-strong squad of bus tidiers including a team leader, will target five main bus termini in the North-east of the city to help make sure that hundreds of buses (on routes 40, 41, 38C, 62, 12, 45, 56, 38, 37, 75, 18, 54 and 61) are kept tidy throughout the whole day.

The main aim will be to remove any old newspapers or large items of litter lying on the floor of the bus. In the past, this debris was only cleared at the end of the working day by an overnight shift of cleaners. During the first phase of the scheme, around 230 buses will undergo the extra tidy at Baillieston, Easterhouse, Auchinairn, Garthamlock and Milton/Summerston areas.

This initiative is also helping to create seven extra jobs in local communities. Mark Savelli explained: ”We are delighted to be launching the new BusDusters initiative in support of the very successful Glasgow City Council inspired Clean Glasgow Campaign.

“Alongside this new scheme, we are also launching a public education campaign in which we seek our customers’ full co-operation in not leaving any items of litter on our buses. In return, we will relax our rules so as to allow people to consume cold food and drinks on board our buses providing that they remove any litter when leaving the bus.”

Glasgow City Council Leader, Councillor Steven Purcell said: “I’m delighted that First Glasgow is introducing this service. “Glasgow City Council spends a massive £16m on cleaning up the city every year. Through the Clean Glasgow campaign we hope to significantly reduce this figure, enabling us to invest this money in a way that will benefit businesses, residents and visitors alike.

“The support we’ve received from residents and businesses has been excellent, and First Glasgow’s commitment to helping create a cleaner environment for its customers will be a tremendous boost to our campaign.”

Clean Glasgow is aimed at changing attitudes to littering, fly-tipping and dog fouling and last year, the city council teamed up with Glasgow Chamber of Commerce and key city businesses to launch the Clean Glasgow Business Charter.

This highlights to Glasgow’s 20,000 businesses how they can benefit from the campaign. First hopes that the scheme might be rolled out across the network in the future. The Company already has a strong commitment to environmental awareness and the BusDusters initiative is the latest in a series of schemes which have been aimed at making First greener and cleaner.