Industry | Bus transportation |
---|---|
Founded | 2018 |
Founder | Adam Leishman |
Headquarters | England |
Area served | Cambridgeshire Chile Hong Kong |
Subsidiaries | Whippet Bravo Transport |
Website | www |
Ascendal Group is a British public transport company that operates Whippet in Cambridgeshire, the Ascendal Punta Arenas in southern Chile, and has a small shareholding in Hong Kong bus companies of Citybus through Bravo Transport. It was founded in 2018 by former Tower Transit CEO Adam Leishman until he and Go Whippet split away from Transit Systems to form Ascendal. [1] Leishman is the son of Transit Systems co-founder Graham Leishman and was previously the Business Development Director at Transit Systems.
Whippet, formerly Go Whippet, is a bus operation in Cambridgeshire, England. [2] It was purchased by Transit Systems in November 2014. [3] [4] The bus operation was transferred to Ascendal Group in October 2018. [5]
Ascendal Punta Arenas is Ascendal's bus operations in Punta Arenas, Magallanes Region, that started in October 2020.
Ascendal owns 0.6% of Bravo Transport, which owns Hong Kong bus operators Citybus and previously New World First Bus. [6] [7] Both operations were acquired in August 2020 from NWS Holdings. [8] [9] [10] Leishman also became the CEO of Bravo Transport. [11]
Hong Kong has a highly developed transport network, encompassing both public and private transport. Based on Hong Kong Government's Travel Characteristics Survey, over 90% of daily journeys are on public transport, the highest rate in the world. However, in 2014 the Transport Advisory Committee, which advises the Government on transportation issues, issued a report on the much-worsened congestion problem in Hong Kong and pointed at the excessive growth of private cars during the past 10–15 years.
The Octopus card is a reusable contactless stored value smart card for making electronic payments in online or offline systems in Hong Kong. Launched in September 1997 to collect fares for the territory's mass transit system, it has grown into a widely used system for transport and other retail transactions in Hong Kong. It is also used for purposes such as recording school attendance and permitting building access. The cards are used by 98 percent of the population of Hong Kong aged 15 to 64 and the system handles more than 15 million transactions, worth over HK$220 million, every day.
New World First Bus Services Limited (NWFB) was the third-largest bus operator in Hong Kong. Established by NWS Holdings and FirstGroup in September 1998, it took over 88 China Motor Bus services in Hong Kong Island. From 2020 until its merger with Citybus in 2023, it was a subsidiary of Bravo Transport, the owner of Citybus. The NWFB brand was retired on 1 July 2023 with operations merged into Citybus.
FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen in the north-east of Scotland. The company operates transport services in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
Citybus or City bus may refer to:
Citybus Limited is a bus company which provides both franchised and non-franchised service in Hong Kong. The franchised route network serves Hong Kong Island, cross-harbour routes, North Lantau, Hong Kong International Airport, Kowloon, New Territories, Shenzhen Bay Port and Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge Hong Kong Port. The non-franchised routes serve mainly City One Sha Tin. It also provides bus rental services and staff bus services for some large companies, such as TVB and China Light and Power.
Stagecoach Group is a transport group based in Perth, Scotland. It operates buses and express coaches in the United Kingdom.
Sun Ferry Services Company Limited, more widely known as Sun Ferry and formerly New World First Ferry Services, is a ferry service company in Hong Kong. The company was established in November 1999, when it took over the eight licensed ferry routes transferred from Hongkong and Yaumati Ferry in January 2000.
Bus services in Hong Kong have a long history. As of 2023, four companies operate franchised public bus services. There are also a variety of non-franchised public bus services, including feeder bus services to railway stations operated by MTR, and residents' services for residential estates.
Chow Tai Fook group is a Hong Kong–based, privately-owned conglomerate with holdings in the jewellery, property development, hotel, department store, transportation, energy, telecommunications, port, casino, and other businesses. Despite the holding companies of the group, namely Chow Tai Fook Capital Limited, Chow Tai Fook (Holding) Limited, Chow Tai Fook Enterprises Limited, etc. being privately owned, the group has been partially listed on the stock market via associate company New World Development and subsidiary Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Limited. As of 31 December 2018, New World Development was ranked as the 47th-largest company by market capitalization on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, which was HK$105.68061 billion.
Octopus Holdings Limited is a holding company based in Hong Kong jointly owned by five major transport companies in the city. Its subsidiaries, which are all wholly owned, operate the various functions of the Octopus card in both its commercial and non-commercial usage. In 2006, the company gained international recognition by winning the Chairman's Award of the World Information Technology and Services Alliance's 2006 Global IT Excellence Award for the Octopus card system.
Stagecoach East is a bus operator providing local and regional services across the East of England, operating in the counties of Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire. The company is a subsidiary of the Stagecoach Group and is headquartered and registered in Cambridge.
Capital Citybus was a bus operator in London operating services under contract to London Regional Transport.
NWS Holdings Limited is a conglomerate with a diversified portfolio of market-leading businesses, predominantly in Hong Kong and the Mainland under Chow Tai Fook Enterprise (CTFE). Operating businesses include toll roads, insurance, logistics, construction and facilities management.
London Buses route 252 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Collier Row and Hornchurch, it is operated by Stagecoach London.
Whippet, formerly Go Whippet, is a bus and coach operator based in Swavesey, Cambridgeshire, England.
Transit Systems Group is an Australian-based public transport company, which also operates overseas through its subsidiary Tower Transit Group. Transit Systems Group is a subsidiary of the Kelsian Group, formerly SeaLink Travel Group.
The Alexander Dennis Enviro500 MMC is a low-floor, three-axle double-decker bus produced by the British bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis since 2012, replacing the Alexander Dennis Enviro500. The Enviro500 MMC is available powered by either Euro VI diesel or hybrid-electric and later fully-electric powertrains.
The Volvo B8L is a 3-axle bus chassis, for double-decker buses, manufactured by Volvo Buses since 2016, with pre-production batches being produced as early as in 2016. It is powered by a 6-cylinder, 350hp 7.7 litre Volvo engine.
Bravo Transport Services Limited, simply Bravo Transport is a Hong Kong public transport company, which owns one of the city's bus operators Citybus.