Fastrack’s core goal is to ensure that all passengers can get to their destinations in a reliable and speedy way. Kent has been able to provide this for their passengers by creating new bus infrastructure to allow Fastrack services to bypass potentially busy areas. The backbone of this infrastructure is the Fastrack busway; newly built designated paths which can only be utilised by Fastrack services. Other infrastructure often used by the Fastrack team include ANPR camaras, designated bus lanes, bridges, and barriers. All these aspects of the Fastrack infrastructure combine to ensure that the services themselves area able to remain reliable and speedy for the service users.
Further infrastructure has also been installed to make the journey for passengers much easier. These elements include Real time information terminals which can communicate the time before services arrive. These totems are also able to communicate key news and updates to the network as it is happening, giving residents a greater sense of control over their journey.
At all stages of Fastrack development the primary requirements for the vehicles are reliability, passenger comfort and to suit passenger demand. The flexibility of Fastrack means that the vehicles ultimately operating on the network need not be of the same size or type that operated initially. This has given the Fastrack team within KCC the flexibility to change out the Fastrack Fleet where necessary.
Kent is in the process of updating the Fastrack fleet to include a fleet of electric buses and charging infrastructure to support them. For more details on this project, please visit our webpage on Fastrack electrification