Reading Buses are rebranding their FastTrack services from the south of the town. Excuse the mixed metaphor but one thing which caught my eye was the fact the buses not only have on board announcements for passengers as to the next stop, they also announce themselves to would be customers as the vehicle arrives at a pick up point.
Welcome to greenwaveOn Monday 29 April, Reading Borough Council and ourselves revealed a new weapon in the fight for sustainable and greener transport. The Fast Track services in South Reading needed something new, something different to capture people's attentions and so we would like to say:
Welcome to
This new brand brings with it 11 new gas powered buses, which we launched at Green Park to a fantastic reception. Powered exclusively by Compressed Natural Gas (
CNG▸ ) we and Reading Borough Council are giving a greener, cleaner and quieter choice for Reading's commuters.
The new brand will replace the Fast Track brand on the South Reading routes serving Green Park, Reading International Business Park, Kennet Island and Madejski Stadium Park and Ride.
Timetables will be very similar to existing, but there may be a few minor alterations. See below for your new times.
^Green Park
^Reading International Business Park
^Madejski park & ride
^Kennet Island
The buses are ultra green - they have no particulates (soot), no hydrocarbons and virtually no carbon coming from the back end. They will also dramatically reduce the amount of Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) into the atmosphere.
All of these emissions can be harmful to health and so their reduction will benefit the health and well-being of the town as well as making the air that little bit nicer to breathe.
The new buses have been kitted out with all manner of features, including free WiFi, audio and visual next stop announcements and even more innovative is the external destination audio repeater ^ designed to help visually impaired people find out the number of the bus. When the bus pulls up at the stop and the doors open the bus tells people standing at the stop its route number - a real first for Reading and possibly the whole of the
UK▸ !
And we aren't just stopping with greenwave - we hope to introduce gas buses on red 9 to Shinfield Park and bronze 11 to Coley Park in the coming weeks.
We ordered a total of 20 gas buses and, when they all are in service, that will make us the operator with the largest fleet of gas buses in the UK. It will also mean that our fleet will be 40% super-low emission with the existing 31 electric hybrid buses contributing to that figure.
You can see a video of the launch created by Reading Borough Council on their YouTube channel here
And on Saturday 4 May, we will also be on Broad Street with one of the greenwave buses to talk about the new service and the gas buses - there will also be the opportunity to have a short free ride on a gas bus from Minster Street! Come along from 10.30am to say hi!
