The security contract took effect July 15, 2026, according to the Office of Gov. Ned Lamont. The announcement was issued July 23 from New Britain and included Mayor Bobby Sanchez, along with state transportation and public-safety officials.

The changes affect riders using the city’s central bus-rapid-transit corridor. The security staffing is in place; the shelter work remains a plan, with no completion date or final cost provided in the announcement.

Security staffing began July 15

Under the new contract, CTtransit has two private security officers on every shift, supported by a rotating supervisor. The announcement describes the change as expanded private security coverage across CTfastrak.

The packet does not specify the precise boundaries of that coverage beyond the CTfastrak system. It also does not report a reduction in crime or provide before-and-after safety data, so the staffing change should not be treated as evidence that crime has declined.

CTtransit also reported recent inspection and passenger-engagement activity. In June 2026, the agency inspected about 550 CTfastrak bus trips and engaged more than 4,200 passengers. The announcement did not identify the results of those inspections or describe any enforcement outcomes.

Four shelters are planned for replacement

CTDOT and CTtransit plan to replace four enclosed shelters with open glass wind breaks. The stations named in the announcement are Downtown New Britain, Sigourney, Parkville and Flatbush.

That distinction matters for riders and the city: the security contract has already begun, but the station infrastructure has not been described as completed. The state announcement gives no construction schedule, implementation deadline or final price for the shelter replacements.

Open glass wind breaks would change the physical design of waiting areas at the four stations, but the approved information does not provide engineering details, explain how the shelters will be constructed, or state how long any work will take. Those details remain to be announced.

A heavily used local transit system

The measures come as CTfastrak reaches a significant ridership milestone. The system has recorded more than 40 million rides since launching in 2015 and nearly 2.8 million rides in 2025.

Those figures establish the scale of the system serving New Britain and its surrounding corridor. They do not, by themselves, show how many riders use any one station or whether the new security and shelter changes will affect ridership.

For New Britain, the immediate change is the presence of contracted security officers during CTfastrak shifts. The longer-term change is a planned redesign of waiting shelters at Downtown New Britain, Sigourney, Parkville and Flatbush. The next known step is implementation of the shelter replacements, but state officials have not yet announced when that work will be finished or what it will cost.