The eagerly-awaited shortlist recognises excellence from across the industry, from a single person’s achievements, through to projects that deliver innovation and a first-class customer experience.

The finalists in all 19 categories were made public during ‘The Big Reveal’ hosted across the UK Bus Awards’ social platforms.

Mark Yexley, Chairman for the UK Bus Awards, said: “The awards are a symbol of excellence within our industry, and the quality of the 2018 entries reflect this. The judging process is very tough, and all our finalists should be proud of their achievements.”

He added: “It’s a great honour to support, celebrate and reward all the remarkable work that’s undertaken by transport teams up and down the country. It’s inspiring to see how much commitment there is from employees and organisations to enhance all areas of bus travel.”

“We wish everybody the best of luck, and we look forward to celebrating at the presentation ceremony on 20 November at Troxy, London.”

To book tickets to the presentation ceremony visit https://bit.ly/2NcqETC

The Finalists

Bus and the Community Award

BUSter’s Beach Party – Yellow Buses
Drive On – HCT Group
Charity of Choice – Lothian Buses
Second Chance – RATP Dev London
Charity and community – Reading Buses
The #BeNiceBus – Stagecoach Group
Newham Safer Travel Project – Stagecoach London
Christmas fundraising campaign – Stagecoach North East

Engineer of the Year

Colin Barnes – Go North East
Graham Smith – Nottingham City Transport
Terry Absalom – Stagecoach London
Ben Coghlan – Stagecoach Manchester

Environment Award

Electric vehicles – Lothian Buses
Liverpool Bus Alliance – Merseytravel and Partners
World’s largest fleet of bio-gas double deckers – Nottingham City Transport
World’s first zero emission electric double decker- Optare

TfL Award for London Bus Garage of the Year

Twickenham – Abellio London
Brixton – Arriva London South
Perivale – Metroline
Tolworth – RATP Dev London
Barking – Stagecoach London

Leadership & Inspiration Award

Oliver Monahan – Arriva Southern Counties
Michael Gatenby – Arriva Yorkshire
Jim Thorpe – Uno Bus

Making Buses a Better Choice

Winchester Bus Station – Hampshire County Council
Liverpool Bus Alliance – Merseytravel and Partners
Route 64 – Stagecoach South
Bus Services in New Residential Developments Guidance- Stagecoach Bus
X10 Stagecoach Express – Stagecoach Yorkshire
West Midlands Bus Alliance – Transport for West Midlands and Partners

The Award for Marketing Initiative of the Year

Big Days Out campaign – Go North East
Better by Bus – Merseytravel and Partners
Service 10 – Stagecoach North Scotland
The Comet, come fly with us – Uno Bus
Meet Violet, she’s on her way – Uno Bus Northampton
The Pops and the Cheshire Cat – Warrington’s Own Buses

New Horizons Award

Connected Apps – Arriva London
BusMark – Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport
Bus Driver Routeway – Go North East
Social seating – Go South Coast, Swindon’s Bus Company
On-Board Passenger Information System – Lothian Buses
How do I catch a bus? – Stagecoach East Scotland
VecTive – Vectare

Putting Passengers First

Make My Mainline – The Burnley Bus Company
Re-building confidence in using the bus – East Coast Buses
How do I catch a bus? – Stagecoach East Scotland
Hello London – Transport for London

ROSCO Award for Innovation in Road Safety

Lytx DriveCam – National Express West Midlands
Accident prevention days campaign – RATP Dev London
Walking and cycling in London – RATP Dev London
technology + empowered employees = safer buses – Reading Buses

The Award for Sustained Marketing Excellence

Bluestar, shining across the city – Go South Coast, Bluestar
m1 and m2 – Go South Coast, morebus
Journeys taken care of with GNE – Go North East
Express City Connect – Stagecoach East Scotland

Top City Operator

Lothian Buses
National Express West Midlands
Nottingham City Transport
Plymouth Citybus
Stagecoach Manchester
Stagecoach Merseyside

Top National Bus Driver

Robbie Bartle – Go South Coast, morebus
Garry Williams – National Express West Midlands
Aaron Johnson – Nottingham City Transport
Simon Crumpler – Stagecoach West
Adam Davies – Transdev Blazefield
Joanne Morgan – Stagecoach Manchester
Steven Irvine – Stagecoach Manchester
James Kearney – trentbarton

Top Independent Operator

Marshalls of Sutton-on-Trent
Ensignbus
Prentice Coaches
Scarlet Band Bus and Coach
Uno Bus Northampton

Top London Bus Driver

Jim Hart – Abellio London
Christine Watkins – Arriva London
David Harris – Arriva London
Dean Golding – Go-Ahead London
Natasha Smith – Go-Ahead London
Patrick Lawson – CT Plus
Anthony Banks-Walker – RATP Dev London
Leighton Shannon – Uno Bus

Top National Bus Depot

Shrewsbury – Arriva Midlands
Heckmondwike – Arriva Yorkshire
Newport, Isle of Wight – Go South Coast, Southern Vectis
Crawley – Metrobus
Grimsby – Stagecoach East Midlands
St Andrews – Stagecoach East Scotland
Sharston – Stagecoach Manchester
Intack – The Blackburn Bus Company

Top Shire Operator

Go South Coast
Metrobus
Oxford Bus Company
Reading Buses
Stagecoach East Scotland

Unsung Hero

Janet Cameron – Abellio London
Margaret Skinner – First Scotland East
Steve Ilbury – RATP Dev London
John Millar – Stagecoach East Scotland
Thomas McGovern – Stagecoach East Scotland
Matt Begg – Stagecoach Midlands

Young Manager of the Year

Rob Hutchings – Arriva London South
Alex Chutter – Go South Coast
Ben Coghlan – Stagecoach Manchester
Elizabeth Richards – Stagecoach West
Andy Turnbull – Transdev Blazefield