First York
First York is a bus operator, running local bus services to destinations in and around the city of York. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup. History. In 1932, the "York-West Yorkshire Joint Committee" was formed, as part of a joint venture between West Yorkshire Road Car Company and York City Council. Following the introduction of the Transport Act 1985, such joint ventures were prohibited, with West Yorkshire Road Car taking full ownership. In October 1986, services were re-branded as "York City & District" as West Yorkshire was broken up for deregulation, and in 1989 was sold to  the AJS Group with the other former West Yorkshire companies Harrogate & District, Keighley & District and Yorkshire Coastliner. In 1990 AJS Group sold York City & District to Yorkshire Rider who re-branded it Rider York. In April 1994, Rider York was included in the sale of the Yorkshire Rider business to Badgerline. First was formed in April 1995, following the merger of Badgerline and GRT Group, with "Rider York" being rebranded as "First York" in 1998. In the same year, First took ownership of Glenn Coaches, followed by York Pullman in 2000. Fleet and operations. First York currently operate a number  of local services in and around the city of York, as well as the York Park and Ride. As of May 2019, the fleet consists of 105 buses. All services are operated from a single depot, located at James Street. Route branding is not common, excluding "Your Bus" branded services operated on behalf of the University of York, and services branded for the York Park and Ride. In the past, route branding existed on a number of local services, with branding depicting the line colour, frequency of vehicles, and main stops along the route. University of York. In August 2015 , First York commenced operation of a five-year contract to provide services on behalf of the University of York, with vehicles branded in "Your Bus" livery. York Park and Ride. First York operate York Park and Ride services, in partnership with the City of York Council. There are six park and ride sites across the city, these being located at: Askham Bar, Grimston Bar, Monks Cross, Poppleton Bar, Rawcliffe Bar and York Designer Outlet. York Park and Ride services are currently operated by a combination of Alexander Dennis Enviro 200 (York Hospital Shuttle Bus), Wright Eclipse Urban bodied Volvo B7RLE(routes  7 and 8), articulated Mercedes-Benz Citaro (routes 2 and 3), and fully electric Optare Versa (routes 9 and 59). A fleet of 21 electric double-deck Optare MetroDeckers are due to be introduced on to York Park and Ride services, with these being originally scheduled for delivery back in October 2019. York Racecourse. A shuttle bus service operates between York Railway Station and York Racecourse on race days. This service is operated jointly by First, Transdev York and York Pullman. Routes 4, 11 and 12 also operate to stops nearby, with a short walk to the racecourse. Former operations . ftr. In May 2006, First York took delivery of eleven articulated Wright StreetCar vehicles. They were introduced on to route 4, running between the University of York and Acomb, as part of the "ftr" scheme being trialled in the city. The FTR scheme was largely unpopular with people in York for a number of reasons, including frequent problems with ticketing, pricing, punctuality, and the vehicles being excessively long. Protests were especially heated amongst students, with the University of York's students' union engaging in negotiations with First York, encouraging the company to introduce student discounts. York Pullman was awarded the  contract to operate services on behalf of the University of York, and launched "Unibus" in 2010. Due to competition from York Pullman's "Unibus", the price of the ticket for students on First's (now commercial) route 4 dropped significantly. The ftr scheme meant that bus stop areas had to be extended in order to accommodate the length of the longer vehicles. However, in many cases, this was done in contravention of the guidance given in the council's highway design document. This led to ftr buses blocking the road, and further adding to traffic congestion. In 2009, First York  replaced the articulated Wright StreetCar vehicles with standard low-floor buses during the evening and on Sundays. Following their victory at the 2011 local elections, the controlling Labour Party on the City of York Council set about to ensure that the ftr buses were replaced. The articulated Wright StreetCar vehicles ran in York for the last time on 10 March 2012, being replaced 11 double-deck Wright Eclipse Gemini vehicles from First South Yorkshire's depot in Rotherham. The vehicles were transferred to other services within First West Yorkshire area, with some later being used on the "Hyperlink" 72 service  between Leeds and Bradford. X64. In 2009, First York launched a half-hourly X64 express service, running between York, Tadcaster, Seacroft and Leeds, designed to compete with Yorkshire Coastliner. The service was withdrawn in August 2010. York Aircoach. In February 2007, First York introduced an hourly service, linking York with Leeds Bradford Airport. Branded as "York Aircoach", it was based on a model and brand successfully used by Aircoach, operating to and from Dublin Airport. Four Volvo B10M coaches were acquired for this operation, all being branded in First's "Excel" coach branding, with additional "York Aircoach" branding applied . The service was later rebranded as "York Airlink 787", using buses instead of coaches. The service was withdrawn in April 2009.