WHAT IS CTfastrak

CTfastrak is a new Bus Rapid Transit system that will serve travelers in central Connecticut.  It includes a 9.4-mile guideway dedicated to buses that will serve as the spine of the CTfastrak system.

Construction of the CTfastrak guideway began in May 2012. The CTfastrak Bus Rapid Transit system is scheduled to open for passenger service in early 2015.

CTfastrak offers a traffic-free trip with the convenience and flexibility that the bus provides to deliver riders directly to their destinations.  Passengers will enjoy a swift 20-minute ride on the dedicated CTfastrak line between downtown Hartford and New Britain, bypassing traffic on I-84 and local streets in this heavily-congested corridor. CTfastrak will provide frequent daily service, operating from early morning until late at night.

CTfastrak service  will travel on or connect with the dedicated CTfastrak guideway, with 68 routes providing fast, convenient access to employment, shopping, educational, cultural and entertainment destinations throughout the region. The service will extend beyond the dedicated bus corridor with routes that reach outlying communities. Several new routes will be created to provide a transfer-free, one-seat ride to popular destinations along the corridor. With connections to local and express bus routes as well as the interstate rail system, travelers will be able to get to destinations throughout the entire central Connecticut region and beyond.

The CTfastrak system is being built by the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) and will be operated by CTtransit.  More than 80% of the cost of the CTfastrak system - $455 million – is being financed through federal funding that was committed by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA).  More than half of that federal funding is from a discretionary grant that CTfastrak competed for against rapid transit projects around the country; money that can only be used for CTfastrak and would have gone to another state if the CTfastrak proposal had not been favorably judged by FTA.

CTfastrak features:

• Dedicated 9.4 mile guideway for buses
• 11 stations
• Frequent, daily service on the CTfastrak line operating from 4:30 a.m. to 1:30 a.m.
• Five-mile multi-use trail along the CTfastrak guideway, connecting New Britain and Newington
• Transit-only ramp connections to I-84 for more efficient bus access to CTfastrak stations
• Modern bus rapid transit vehicles with the latest environmentally-friendly technologies, including WiFi