Mayor of London Boris Johnson has launched the ‘Year of the Bus’, to pay tribute to the importance of the bus network to our capital, supported by a number of sponsors, including telent Technology Services Ltd.
London’s bus network – the most accessible and one of the most extensive anywhere in the world – has, throughout its history, played a central role in keeping the city moving and maintaining London’s role as the engine-room of the UK economy. This year sees a number of important anniversaries, including 60 years since the creation of the original and iconic Routemaster, 75 years since the launch of its predecessor the RT-Type bus, and 100 years since hundreds of London buses were sent to the Western Front to play a crucial role during the First World War.
Speaking at Transport for London’s Year of the Bus Launch on January 27th, Leon Daniels, Managing Director for TfL Surface Transport, said: “In London people make more than 2.3 billion bus journeys a year – more than are made in the rest of England. This year will see a richly-deserved celebration of the humble bus from its origins in the 19th century to today, and also look at what the future holds for this crucial part of London’s transport network.”
As a company with strong roots in London, with four premises and nearly a third of our employees choosing to live and work in the capital, telent are proud to be a sponsor of this programme of events. If you live in London, every time you pick up a phone, ‘surf the net’, use the motorways or ride the rail network, commute across London on the tube or bus or even when you dial 999, chances are you’ve come into contact with a piece of technology or infrastructure that telent has provided.
“telent have had a long term partnership with Transport for London, on the bus network, but also the underground and rail, providing technology services to help London’s travelling public”, Chris Metcalfe, Managing Director of telent’s Technology Solutions business said. ‘It’s with pride that we sponsor this event to celebrate the history of the Bus network and the people who work on it, and also how technology can make it a more convenient and accessible way to travel’. telent will be supporting the various events throughout the year and demonstrating how our technology makes travel easier.
London buses carry 6.5m passengers a day and, alongside the Tube – which carries around 4m each day – provide the backbone of London’s transport network. It’s one of the largest bus networks anywhere in the world, with a 8,600-strong bus fleet, operating across around 700 routes serving 19,500 bus stops. Despite its size, the bus network remains flexible and able to adapt to the challenges of operating in a constantly changing streetscape. One part of this is telent’s Countdown II system for TfL, which provides real time bus arrival information for any stop within Central and Greater London to phones via mobile apps or SMS, computers via the TfL website and also directly to over 2,500 bus stop signs.
More information on Year of the Bus Events (http://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/whats-on/year-of-the-bus)
With annual revenues of over £300 million, telent has decades of experience in supplying a broad range of network and communications services. Today, the privately-held company employs approximately 1,500 people and has an engineering field force that covers the entire UK. Customers include: BT, Virgin Media, Sky, Arqiva, Vodafone, Merseyside Fire & Rescue, the Metropolitan Police, Transport for London, Network Rail, Train Operators, and London Ambulance Service
For more information about telent, visit www.telent.com
