FTR (bus)

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FTR
logo
Image
An FTR bus in York on route 4
Slogan The future of travel
Parent company FirstGroup plc
Founded 2006
Headquarters Aberdeen, Scotland
Service area York, Leeds and Swansea
Service type Bus rapid transit
Fuel type Diesel
Operator FirstGroup plc
Web site www.goftr.com

The FTR system is an example of the public transport concept of bus rapid transit, currently being used in York, Leeds in West Yorkshire, England and Swansea in South Wales. FTR has been introduced by First Group, using Wright StreetCar articulated buses in conjunction with infrastructure upgrades provided by local authorities. The vehicles are branded as the future of travel; the operator stating that "ftr" is SMS shorthand for "future".[1]

Contents

[edit] Elements

FTR is a collection of many innovations all being trialled simultaneously. The vehicle type, its configuration, the fare collection arrangements, the changes to infrastructure and an integrated data handling system for voice radio, vehicle location, real time passenger information, on-board displays, vehicle diagnostics, and ticket machine data.

[edit] Vehicles

Each 'StreetCar' vehicle costs over £300,000, and features a separate driver ('pilot') compartment at the front, resembling to some extent similar designs in continental Europe. Otherwise the vehicle itself is modified over a conventional bus, with styling similar to contemporary trams and greater distances between axles in order to maximise the low-floor area for easily-accessible seating.

[edit] Ticketing system

The main fundamental difference to conventional bus services is the method of fare collection - which involves payment of cash fares to a self-service ticket machine rather than to the driver who is not intended to have any contact with passengers. This feature was promoted as helping to reduce journey times, although achieving this would depend somewhat on a large-scale transfer to prepaid tickets, available for example through a network of PayPoint retailers.

This feature has been now deemed as a failure and self-service machines are no longer in operation. A "customer service host" (Conductor) on each bus is responsible for ticket issuing.

[edit] Current Operations & Future Trials

[edit] York

The first instance of FTR in the United Kingdom is the conversion of route 4 in York, which is operated by First York. The service began on 8 May 2006, after the city council had made significant and expensive alterations to the road layout to accommodate the new vehicles.

Service 4 (between Acomb and the University of York) was revised on the introduction of the new 42-seat vehicles to operate every 10 minutes in both directions, replacing eight conventional 41-seater buses each hour. This is ultimately a reduction in capacity, although the Streetcar buses have a much higher nominal standing capacity, which in practice is never achieved as this would result in crush-loading preventing adequate flow of boarding and alighting customers at bus stops.[citation needed]

The migration of passengers to off-vehicle ticket purchase has been slower than expected despite incentives.[citation needed]

With more than anticipated numbers of passengers still buying tickets on-board the quicker boarding times have not materialised partly due to technical problems with the on-board ticketing equipment (such as software glitches and coins being rejected).[citation needed] A rush of passengers (for example at the railway station) can therefore delay a vehicle by several minutes causing the bus nominally 10 minutes behind to catch up and usually pass the busier one in front.[citation needed] Because of the problems with the ticket machine system, all the ticket machines have been removed from the buses, and tickets are now purchase and checked by a traditional conductor, thus removing one of the purposes of the FTR bus.[citation needed]

The length and maneuverability of the vehicles is another issue in a comparatively small and congested city like York, with severe problems at constrained points where two opposing vehicles meet or at bus stops where two buses have bunched running the risk of junctions being blocked.[citation needed] York service 4 follows a somewhat tortuous route involving some relatively narrow streets and tight turns for which the articulated 'Streetcars', based on modified articulated bus chassis, are not best suited, leading to the unfetching nickname of "understeer streetcar" being used by some drivers.[citation needed] A general lack of space for proper bus priority means that the vehicles are prone to becoming held up in traffic jams.[citation needed]

Experience elsewhere in the UK has led to self-service ticket machines being located at roadside bus stops (London, but the bendy-buses without conductors are colloquially known as the 'free bus') or conductors being carried (Sheffield Supertram) in order to minimise the time spent stationary. In the former instance inspectors carry out the necessary random on-board ticket checks to prevent fare evasion, in a similar way to the current situation in York.

[edit] Leeds

First Bus, FTR in Lowtown, Pudsey, Leeds, running on the No 4 Route.
First Bus, FTR in Lowtown, Pudsey, Leeds, running on the No 4 Route.

Following the cancellation of the Leeds Supertram project, the local Passenger Transport Executive Metro suggested various bus rapid transit options as a replacement, one of which was an FTR service.

The FTR system was chosen, and the service began in early 2007. It runs between Pudsey and Whinmoor, via City Square running Route 4 (Pudsey-City-Whinmoor). Many observers consider that the extent to which "FTR" is successful in Leeds will determine whether large-scale adoption of the concept throughout other British urban areas is likely. Leeds council have recently announced they are studying a tram-train to traverse the city centre streets and the local rail network. Whether this will be instead of the Quality Bus is uncertain. FirstGroup is presently the only large UK transport company promoting such vehicles, with other major operators such as Stagecoach and Lothian Buses preferring to avoid the additional outlay involved in procuring the Streetcar-type bus and instead purchase a larger number of conventional single and double deckers for fleet renewal and upgrading.

[edit] Swansea

It has been announced that Swansea will be the recipient of a similar operation from about April 2009 that will link Morriston, the City Centre and the university/Singleton Hospital. It is being billed locally as the Swansea Metro. Extensive streetworks are being carried out and are evident now in the cty centre.

[edit] Luton Airport

Four FTR buses are currently working for First Capital Connect, providing a frequent link between the airport and Luton Airport Parkway railway station. The use of bigger buses reflects growth in the number of people using the airport rail link, which has more than doubled since the Parkway station opened in 1999. It now carries almost 10 million people a year. Ftr buses, branded as train2plane, run every 10 minutes, 19 hours a day, and also connects with all trains using Luton Airport Parkway during the night.

[edit] Developments

The launch of the FTR generated almost saturation coverage in the local media.[2] On 10 May The Press devoted four full pages to it, including its front page and a double page spread of 12 readers' letters, almost all of them hostile. The next day the paper published a defence of the vehicles' teething problems by First York's commercial director accompanied by another five hostile letters. Another full-page article appeared on 12 May. On 17 May councillor Ann Reid was quoted as saying "The majority [of complaints] seem to have come from those who don't live on the route or certainly don't even catch the bus" (neither does Ann Reid[2]). On 15 May the issue reached the national press.[3] Some transport planners believe that the complaints are an expression of general middle class hostility towards public transport,[4] although response to tram systems has generally been enthusiastic.

Despite initial criticisms the York trial has now attracted good and increasing customer service ratings. The Leeds service was converted to ftr gradually and there was much less vocal criticism. Both services are now running normally in their cities.

Industry sources believe that FTR projects may be being used by the government as a cheap alternative to light rail systems.[3]

[edit] See also

Bus Portal

[edit] References

  1. ^ FTR - the future of travel. Retrieved on 2007-06-03.
  2. ^ a b Thomas, R. (2006), 'The future of public transport' meets hostile response in York, Local Transport Today, no.444, 1 June 2006.
  3. ^ a b Clark, A. (2006), The rise of the purple people-eaters, The Guardian, 15 May 2006.
  4. ^ Emmerson, G. (2006), Is the 'ftr' really the future of public transport?, Local Transport Today, no.445, 15 June 2006.

[edit] External links

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