Reading Buses have brought a splash of colour to relieve the darkness of the current coronavirus pandemic.
Despite Covid-19, Reading Buses have confirmed they are ‘very committed’ to their brightly coloured route brands and want to strengthen them further. A prototype lighting system has been installed on one of their silver generic spare buses that covers all routes and will allow the bus to ‘become’ the colour of the route its running on.
Said Robert Williams, Chief Executive Officer of Reading Buses: “The silver ‘generic’ buses have always been important to allow us some flexibility for routine maintenance. “But this should not mean that customers receive anything less than the top service we recognise they deserve. “These buses are used to fill in on any route when the situation demands so that customers don’t let the ‘wrong’ coloured bus go past.”
The bus operator already has fixed coloured lighting on their orange, purple 17 and little berry buses – acclaimed by the boss as a ‘real success.’ Said Robert: “These buses are really eye catching, especially at night. We wanted to take that concept further and we are pleased to have been able to work with our suppliers to develop this trial system. “We have no plans to replace our bright colours and know that our customers really miss them when one of our silver generic buses appears. But this, if successful, will allow customers to instantly see if the bus approaching them is their actual service.” Robert added: “The trial is part of our ongoing programme to maintain and refresh the fleet. This includes the recent updating of the yellow 26 route between Reading, Southcote, Ford’s Farm, Beansheaf and Calcot. “The refresh includes improved seats, wood effect flooring and USB charging in addition to free WiFi and next stop destination announcements. One bus will also be in the silver spare colours.”
Alan Cressey from Hanover Displays, supplier of the new lighting equipment and Reading Buses long term supplier for destination displays, said: “It has been a pleasure working with the Reading Buses team to develop this product.”
The installation work on the new lighting system was carried out by Bus & Coach World, a long-time contractor of Reading Buses.