Bus-loving boy shows First Bus bosses in Leeds he’s a future employee
A bus-loving boy aged 14 has told bosses at First Bus in Leeds that he can’t wait to finish school and begin a career in the industry.
Harrison Long, from Cookridge, said he had “the best day of my life” on a visit to the operator’s Hunslet Park depot.
The trip was arranged by his mum, Daniella, who has been supporting her son’s passion since the age of two.
She contacted the company after spending “many times” stood outside the depot gates on the family’s ‘bus days’ which they conduct every fortnight also involve visiting heritage events across West Yorkshire.
Daniella said: “It began when we started going on the bus to nursery, he was just so excited. When he moved up to primary school, we had to walk the long way round so Harrison could take in all the bus stops and check timetables.”
Harrison, who was assessed for autism at the age of seven and copes with complex health conditions has an amazing ability to memorise details of bus numbers, routes, models and makes – which he showed off to managers during his tour.
Spotting a bus in the engineering area he asked when it was last in service. Before depot Operations Manager, Paul Atkinson and Jonny Hunt from its staff development team could answer, Harrison had investigated in a few seconds and gave them the time and route it had been operating the day before.
He also spent time with the network and scheduling team finding out how its computer systems are used to plot routes and driver duties and was shown around the different models used for Leeds services including its all-electric bus fleet.
Harrison said: “It was amazing, the best day of my life. There’s so much to see and understand. I’m determined to work in the industry one day.”
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Notes to editors
Media enquiries to Richard Harrison, PR Manager, First Bus North & West Yorkshire 07973 668116 richard.m.harrison@firstbus.co.uk
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 an equal opportunities employer and a division of FirstGroup.