New ftr bus fleet plans shelved

Abstract

PLANS to introduce a third fleet of hybrid "ftr" buses in Yorkshire have been scrapped for the moment with the vehicles now expected to go to Swansea instead.

Bus operator First had intended to introduce the ftr vehicles, which are articulated and have the appearance of a tram, in South Yorkshire, to compliment services they already operate in Leeds and York.

Part of the decision to replace South Yorkshire with Swansea for the next phase of the project was the suitability of the highways infrastructure. The vehicles were designed to improve passenger comfort, but the operator also wanted to ensure they travelled faster to allow passengers to benefit from shortened journey times, said Mr [Brandon Jones].

PLANS to introduce a third fleet of hybrid "ftr" buses in Yorkshire have been scrapped for the moment with the vehicles now expected to go to Swansea instead.

Bus operator First had intended to introduce the ftr vehicles, which are articulated and have the appearance of a tram, in South Yorkshire, to compliment services they already operate in Leeds and York.

But the company has now made a decision to place that fleet in Swansea instead because it wants to make sure the routes they will operate will be updated before they go on the road.

Those vehicles are likely to go into service in Wales sometime next year.

First insists it still intends to introduce ftr services in the county, but does not now expect them to go into service before 2010.

The decision is a blow to the region's attempts to reduce traffic congestion by getting more people out of private vehicles and onto public transport.

It is likely the ftr fleet will form part of a wider scheme intended to replace the proposed Supertram extension to Rotherham, which had to be dropped because the Government declined to support it, when it is finally phased in.

That scheme is called a Bus Rapid Transport system and is likely to be more ambitious than the ftr vehicles, which carry around 100 passengers but use only conventional roads.

The BRT plans are still at an early stage, but the system could use a combination of existing roads and its own routes at certain points to speed up journey times. It may also have a fleet of unique vehicles, possibly using a hybrid power source, if it goes ahead.

First spokesman in South Yorkshire, Brandon Jones, said: "Ftr was originally going to come into South Yorkshire as part

of the initial phase, but it isn't now.

"It has not been shelved for South Yorkshire, it is likely to be developed in line with the Bus Rapid Transport project.

"The initial introduction in York generated some issues such as ticketing, which have been worked on and we are looking forward to seeing ftr in the future," he said.

Part of the decision to replace South Yorkshire with Swansea for the next phase of the project was the suitability of the highways infrastructure. The vehicles were designed to improve passenger comfort, but the operator also wanted to ensure they travelled faster to allow passengers to benefit from shortened journey times, said Mr Jones.

That was needed to encourage more people to give up their cars, he said.

"If you run vehicles like that on the highway without supporting infrastructure, there is a risk all the benefits will not be matched by journey times."

In Leeds, when a fleet of 17 ftr vehicles were introduced a total of Pounds 1.5m was spent on making changes on the roads they use, which included creating new bus lanes, changing junctions and altering traffic signals to give them an advantage over conventional traffic.

The service also gets a public subsidy of Pounds 275,000 a year, with Pounds 500,000 also being spent on a network of new shelters at stops in a further attempt to improve comfort of passengers.

First is confident that new and improved vehicles and changes to road layouts are a significant part of the answer to improving numbers of people using public transport, which have been in decline since bus services were deregulated.