ftrmetro Swansea (also known as the Swansea Metro) is a bus rapid transit route being implemented in Swansea, Wales. The route will be served by FTR articulated buses in an attempt to relieve traffic congestion and provide alternative transport to cars.
The Welsh Assembly Government has provided £2.2m in funding to help launch the scheme. and the local bus operator First Cymru will pay for the fleet, at a cost of £300,000 per vehicle. The buses, to be built by Northern Ireland-based Wrightbus, will each have 37 seats. Stops will be placed every 500m and passengers will pay for tickets on-board from a conductor rather than from the driver.
The bus will run along a route from Morriston Hospital to Singleton Hospital, via Morriston, Swansea railway station, Kingsway, Swansea bus station, Civic Centre and Swansea University. The off-peak journey time between Morriston Hospital and Mumbles could be reduced from 75 minutes to around 55 minutes with the bus route in place.
Alterations are being made number of roads to provide a dedicated bus lane. Orchard Street and The Kingsway have been converted to a one-way streets for cars with a separate two-way bus lane. West Way has been altered to accommodate a two-way bus lane and new access roads have been developed near the Civic Centre. Further road developments include a bus lane along Oystermouth Road and a bus bypass road past the Hafod area.
Phase 1 of the road development scheme, for Orchard Street and Kingsway, is complete. A service between Morriston Hospital and Singleton started on bus route 4, using a single ftr vehicle, on 1 June 2009 with official launch of service expected in September 2009.
Critics of the scheme attacked the disruption caused by roadworks to accommodate the vehicles and the impact of changes to the road network.