Fastrack

Fastrack is a bus rapid transit scheme operating in the Thames Gateway area of Kent. It currently consists of two routes operated by Arriva Southern Counties on behalf of Kent County Council. Various measures are used to allow Fastrack vehicles to avoid traffic, including signal priority, reserved lanes, and dedicated busways.

The fleet consists of 26 Volvo B7RLE vehicles with Wright Eclipse Urban bodywork. They are equipped with passenger information screens, voice announcements and CCTV. As ridership increases, it is intended that these buses will give way to ‘intermediate mode vehicles’, longer articulated vehicles with tram-like appearance, such as the Wright StreetCar. Flexibility is one of Kent County Council’s principal goals in the development of Fastrack, so conversion to trams, trolleybuses or guided buses is not being considered.

The Fastrack network is currently split into three fare zones, with short-hop tickets available for £1 on short journeys. Tickets are sold by the driver, but passengers can also buy tickets from roadside machines at certain bus stops in order to allow for faster boarding.

M-tickets - bus tickets on your mobile phone - were successfully trialled on Fastrack in early 2009 and are now available across the Arriva bus network.