Ride The Magic Bus

CTfastrak isn’t really magic, but it’s the best in the country

Everyone knows that Connecticut has the best pizza and college basketball program in the country, but if you were to go around saying that we had the best rapid transit bus in the country, a lot of people would give you a puzzled look. But according to the Institute of Transportation and Development Policy, the CTfastrak system is the top bus system in country and one of the better systems in the world, earning a silver medal for the bus rapid transit (BRT) system.

A BRT system is not like a typical bus route, but more like a light rail system without the rails. Not only are buses given priority, but a feature in nearly all systems like fastrak is portions of road that are meant for buses only. Fastrak connects 10 municipalities in the northern part of the state, including Waterbury, Cheshire, Southington, Bristol, Plainville, New Britain, Newington, West Hartford, Hartford, and Manchester.

Several things set this system apart – primarily that it exists at all in the United States gives it a leg up. Most other top systems exist in Europe and South America. But it also works because people use it for its quality.

Quoted in a CT Insider article, Hartford City Councilman Josh Michtom says he uses the service often because of it’s dependability: it’s “a train, but it’s a bus.” DOT spokesperson Joe Cooper also said it had “spurred new housing, shopping, and employment destinations” on the route. Essentially, people wouldn’t use the system if the system wasn’t taking people where they needed to go – our municipalities – if it didn’t do it with ease.

And it’s getting better.

Per a press release from the Department of Transportation, CT fastrak received a federal grant to electrify the bus line: “The grant will aid in CTDOT’s project of converting CTfastrak to an all-electric bus fleet. It is being awarded through the FTA’s Low or No Emission Grant Program, which provides funding through a competitive process to states and transit agencies to purchase or lease low or no emission transit buses and related facility upgrades.”

While you might not think about a bus line as something to bring up in conversation when talking about bests, it’s clear that CTfastrak has something going for it that no other line in the country does. So, when you’re talking about Connecticut, and you’re bragging about the pizza and the Huskies, you can brag about the best in the country CTfastrak