FTR was a British
rapid-transit bus system formerly operated in
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
,
Luton
Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable an ...
,
Swansea
Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe).
The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...
and
York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
.
FirstGroup
FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.[Wright StreetCar
The Wright StreetCar is an articulated bus developed by Wrightbus and Volvo for FirstGroup. It was built on the Volvo B7LA chassis, featuring a separate driver compartment at the front, resembling to some extent similar designs in Europe.
It ...]
articulated bus
An articulated bus, also referred to as a banana bus, bendy bus, tandem bus, vestibule bus, wiggle wagon, stretch bus, or an accordion bus, (either a motor bus or trolleybus) is an articulated vehicle used in public transportation. It is usua ...
es in conjunction with infrastructure upgrades by
local authorities
Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...
. The vehicles were branded as "the future of travel", the operators claiming that ''ftr'' is
Abjad
An abjad (, ar, أبجد; also abgad) is a writing system in which only consonants are represented, leaving vowel sounds to be inferred by the reader. This contrasts with other alphabets, which provide graphemes for both consonants and vowels ...
ic
textspeak
Short Message Service (SMS) language, textism, or textese is the abbreviated language and slang commonly used in the late 1990s and early 2000s with mobile phone text messaging, and occasionally through Internet-based communication such as ema ...
for the word ''future''.
Elements
The FTR concept was made up of a bundle of simultaneously introduced innovations relating to the vehicle type, its configuration, the fare collection arrangements, consequent 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.
Vehicles
Each 'StreetCar' vehicle had a separate driver (or "pilot") compartment, resembling to some extent similar designs in continental Europe. Otherwise the vehicle itself was a modified conventional bus, with styling similar to contemporary trams and trolleybuses and a greater distance between axles to maximise the low-floor area for easily accessible seating. The vehicles were air-conditioned and had tinted windows to enhance the on-board ambience along with ergonomic seating. On-board information was provided using an "infotainment" screen which displayed the next FTR stop (in a similar fashion to
Transport for London's i-Bus system) and information related to that stop including local attractions/facilities and connecting bus/train routes. The screen also displayed advertisements for local businesses.
Ticketing system
A major difference between FTR and conventional bus services was the method of fare collection. In
York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
, this initially involved purchase of cash fares from a self-service ticket machine or from a conductor, because the design of FTR allowed no contact between driver and passengers. This was intended to reduce journey times but problems with ticketing machines resulted in their withdrawal. On the FTR route 4 in Leeds, all passengers bought tickets from, or showed bus passes and permits to, the conductor.
Operations
Bradford & Leeds (Hyperlink)
Following the cancellation of the
Leeds Supertram
The Leeds Supertram was a proposed light rail/tram system in Leeds and West Yorkshire in England. It would have been a three-line, system with 50 stations. It received provisional government approval in 2001, and was specifically for corridor ...
project, the local
passenger transport executive
In the United Kingdom, passenger transport executives (PTEs) are local government bodies which are responsible for public transport within large urban areas. They are accountable to combined authorities, which were created between 2011 and 2016 ...
Metro
Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to:
Geography
* Metro (city), a city in Indonesia
* A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center
Public transport
* Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...
suggested various bus rapid transit options as a replacement, one of which was an FTR service. The FTR system was chosen, and the service ran from early 2007 until autumn 2012, on Route 4 'Olive Line' (part of the Leeds Overground colour-coded network of high frequency First Bus Routes) between
Pudsey
Pudsey is a market town in the City of Leeds, City of Leeds Borough in West Yorkshire, England. It is located midway between Bradford, Bradford city centre and Leeds city centre. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of ...
and
Seacroft
Seacroft is an outer-city suburb/township consisting mainly of council estate housing covering an extensive area of east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It lies in the LS14 Leeds postcode area, around east of Leeds city centre.
It sits in th ...
via
City Square
A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...
. The FTR buses were then refurbished,
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wave ...
installed, and given a new livery branded ''Hyperlink'', ready for a new high-frequency service on route 72 connecting Leeds to
Bradford
Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...
.
In July 2016, the FTR articulated buses were replaced by brand new
Wright StreetDeck
The Wright StreetDeck is an integral double-decker bus that was manufactured by Wrightbus from 2014, originally delivered as standard with a Daimler OM934 diesel engine. Hybrid-electric, full-electric and hydrogen-powered variants have subseq ...
buses, with the ''Hyperlink'' brand withdrawn.
York
FTR first operated in York with the conversion of
First York
First York operates local bus services, with a network centring around the cathedral city of York, North Yorkshire, England. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup, which operates bus, rail and tram services across the United Kingdom and Ireland.
His ...
's route 4 between
Acomb and the
University of York
, mottoeng = On the threshold of wisdom
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £8.0 million
, budget = £403.6 million
, chancellor = Heather Melville
, vice_chancellor = Charlie Jeffery
, students ...
. 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.
The York FTR service was withdrawn in March 2012.
Luton Airport
Four FTR buses were operated for
First Capital Connect
First Capital Connect (FCC) was a British train operating company, owned by FirstGroup, that operated the Thameslink and Great Northern sectors from April 2006 to September 2014 which later became the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern (T ...
by
First Northampton
First Northampton was a bus company in Northampton. It was a subsidiary of FirstGroup and part of the First Midlands division. It ceased operating on 14 September 2013.[airport
An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...]
and
Luton Airport Parkway railway station
Luton Airport Parkway railway station is on the Midland Main Line in England, serving south Luton and Luton Airport in Bedfordshire. It is situated in Park Town, Luton, and is down the line from London St Pancras between to the south and to ...
. These were replaced by
Mercedes-Benz Citaro
The Mercedes-Benz Citaro is a single-decker, rigid or articulated bus manufactured by Mercedes-Benz/EvoBus. Introduced in 1997, the Citaro is available in a range of configurations, and is in widespread use throughout Europe and parts of Asia ...
O530Gs, releasing the FTRs for use in Swansea. The use of bigger buses reflects growth in the number of people using the
airport rail link
An airport rail link is a service providing passenger rail transport from an airport to a nearby city by mainline or commuter trains, rapid transit, people mover, or light rail. Direct links operate straight to the airport terminal, while o ...
, which has more than doubled since the Parkway station opened in 1999. It now carries almost 10 million people a year. The FTR were branded as ''train2plane'' and ran every 10 minutes, 19 hours a day (05:00 – 00:00), and connect with all trains from
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
during the night.
Swansea
Swansea
Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe).
The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...
gained a similar operation from 1 June 2009 with FTRs running on route 4 in a phased introduction over several months. The service, publicised as ''ftrmetro'', links
Morriston Hospital
Morriston Hospital ( cy, Ysbyty Treforys) is a 750-bed hospital located in Cwmrhydyceirw near Morriston in Swansea, Wales. It is managed by Swansea Bay University Health Board. Alongside its role as a district general hospital, Morriston is a ...
,
Morriston
Morriston (; cy, Treforys ) is a Community (Wales), community in the City and County of Swansea, Wales and falls within the Morriston (electoral ward), Morriston ward. It is the largest community in Swansea county.
Morriston is sometimes ref ...
, the
City Centre
A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms exist in other languages, such as "" in Fren ...
and the University/
Singleton Hospital
Singleton Hospital ( cy, Ysbyty Singleton) is a general hospital in Sketty Lane, Swansea, Wales. It is managed by Swansea Bay University Health Board.
History
The first stage of the hospital, which included outpatients' facilities, was completed ...
, with five services per hour through the daytime. Extensive streetworks were carried out along the route, including segregated running through the city centre and an "express route" by-passing the busy residential streets of
Hafod
Hafod is a district of the city of Swansea, in South Wales, U.K., and lies just north of the city centre, within the Landore ward. Hafod is the home to the Hafod Copperworks, founded in 1810 and closed in 1980 which is now being developed i ...
. The fleet of Wright StreetCar articulated vehicles were removed from Swansea on 28 August 2015;
First Cymru
First Cymru is an operator of bus services in South West Wales. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup with its headquarters in Swansea.
History
In 1987, South Wales Transport was sold during the privatisation of the National Bus Company in a man ...
cited refurbishment costs as a key factor. Although the articulated vehicles were removed from service, the same route is now served by standard single-deck
Wright StreetLite
The Wright StreetLite is a low-floor midibus introduced by Wrightbus in 2010. It was originally available in only one body style (wheel forward) before the door forward and StreetLite Max variants were introduced in 2011 and 2012 respectively. ...
buses and other similar vehicles.
Developments
The launch of the FTR in York generated almost saturation coverage in the local media.
[Thomas, R. (2006), 'The future of public transport' meets hostile response in York, ''Local Transport Today'', no.444, 1 June 2006.] On 10 May 2006 ''
The Press
''The Press'' is a daily newspaper published in Christchurch, New Zealand owned by media business Stuff Ltd. First published in 1861, the newspaper is the largest circulating daily in the South Island and publishes Monday to Saturday. One comm ...
'' 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
First York operates local bus services, with a network centring around the cathedral city of York, North Yorkshire, England. It is a subsidiary of FirstGroup, which operates bus, rail and tram services across the United Kingdom and Ireland.
His ...
's commercial director, accompanied by another five hostile letters. Another full-page article appeared two days later, and this was followed by national press coverage.
[Clark, A. (2006)]
"The rise of the purple people-eaters"
''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' (London), 15 May 2006. On 17 May 2006, councillor Ann Reid was quoted as saying "The majority
f complaintsseem to have come from those who don't live on the route or certainly don't even catch the bus".
The student press criticised the FTRs. Student anger was particularly directed at the price of tickets on the FTR, which increased by 20% in 2008 for a single ticket from campus into town. The price problem was resolved when the students' union negotiated a £2 student price for a return ticket from the campus to town.
[Anna Goodman]
"FTR is 4U"
''The Yorker''. 13 October 2008
References
External links
{{UK busway, state=collapsed
Bus transport in England
Guided busways and BRT systems in the United Kingdom
Transport in Luton/Dunstable Urban Area
Transport in Swansea
Transport in West Yorkshire
Transport in York