HARTFORD — As CTfastrak bus 1469 cruised between the Kane Street and Flatbush Avenue stations just after noontime Friday, two workers wearing “fare enforcement” vests walked the aisle to check that passengers had paid for the ride.

All 13 people aboard showed either one-day tickets or monthly passes.

On Good Friday, four inspectors worked buses along CTfastrak’s 101 route between downtown and New Britain, ensuring that no confused first-time riders or fare cheats made the trip without paying.

As it wraps up its first years of operations, CTfastrak estimates it is collecting more than 99 percent of the fares it should get. That’s better than many other “honor system” mass transit operations in the country, and one of the achievements that Transit Administrator Michael Sanders is eager to report.

“Our ridership is exceeding our expectations. We set a goal of 98 percent for fare collection and we’re ahead of that. I can’t think of much bad to say,” Sanders said last week.

The state’s first rapid transit bus service opened to the public at 4 a.m. March 28, 2015, and Sanders — along with other senior managers at the state Department of Transportation — say its first year has been a success.

On Monday morning, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is scheduled to join mayors of several towns along the busway to celebrate.

If CTfastrak proves to be a winner, it would be an enormous boost for Malloy, who has staked much of his political legacy on transforming Connecticut’s deteriorated transportation system.

He took plenty of criticism for authorizing construction of the estimated $567 million CTfastrak project, but supporters insist it will emerge as an economic development engine for much of central Connecticut. Despite the state government’s budget crisis, plans are still in place — at least for now — to extend a much less costly version of CTfastrak to UConn’s Storrs campus in August.

“It’s 2016, and we’re meeting 2030 [ridership] expectations — it’s really quite remarkable,” Malloy said Friday. “There’s no doubt the rebirth of the desire to have a broader, better bus system east of the river is based on the success west of the river.”

Malloy said developers are increasingly interested in properties near the busway’s downtown New Britain station. He cited plans for a medical center at the old New Britain Herald building as an example.

“That was $3 million of private investment — according to the purchaser, it was at least partly because of the busway,” Malloy said.

The backbone of CTfastrak — the high-frequency Route 101 between downtown Hartford and the center of New Britain — has been been something of a hit, according to DOT figures. The 101 was averaging about 4,400 passenger trips a day in March.

A year ago, critics predicted fleets of empty buses shuttling back and forth. But even at off-peak times the green-and-white buses on the 101 route typically carry at least a few passengers, and rush-hour trips are often used fairly heavily.

Some routes, however, continue to run with few passengers. Route 140, the shuttle to Central Connecticut State University, has averaged just three riders on each of its 57 daily weekday trips in February and March, though that’s higher than its ridership in 2015.

Buses run the Route 140 loop 28 times every Sunday but by the end of the average day have carried a meager 31 riders — or barely one passenger on each bus, on average.

The Southington-Cheshire-Waterbury express bus, Route 161, has averaged only four riders per weekday run. And Route 161, which loops between St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center and Hartford Hospital, has averaged about four and a half riders on its weekday runs.

The DOT is analyzing ridership data to decide where to beef up or reduce schedules later this year, and might adjust or combine some routes.

“We’ll see what we want to do with the 140,” Sanders said.

The DOT would talk with riders and communities before redesigning any routes, he said.

A fiscal analysis of the operation still isn’t possible. The DOT hasn’t released the final cost of designing and building the busway; a year ago, though, Commissioner James Redeker projected the figure would be a few million dollars below the $567 million budget.

The DOT also budgeted $17.5 million as an operating subsidy for the year; then raised that to $18.3 million because of additional costs for clearing snow. It hasn’t put out a total operating cost for the first year and won’t know until July precisely how much the subsidy cost taxpayers in the 2015-16 fiscal year.

For the first six months of operations, CTfastrak brought in $2.09 million in fare revenue, the DOT said. That was nearly $300,000 better than predicted and well on schedule to reach the fiscal year’s goal of $4.19 million, Sanders said.

Supporters say CTfastrak has drastically improved mobility for residents with little or no access to cars, but so far the DOT also hasn’t documented whether it achieved the goal of reducing I-84 traffic congestion. But measured by parking spaces, there’s little doubt that the busway draws some drivers: The DOT is more than doubling the parking near stations, and even on Good Friday the popular Cedar Street Station lot in Newington was packed solid with cars lined up along one side of the long driveway.

The fleet of distinctive green-and-white buses was purchased specifically for CTfastrak routes and has held up well in its first year on the roads, Sanders said. The bending, articulated buses on Route 101 were taken out of service briefly after the cold snap in February triggered brake troubles, but repairs were made under warranty and those buses have been fine since, Sanders said.

The Route 101 buses have logged about 55,000 to 60,000 miles each in the first year and still look relatively new. Aboard bus 1469 on Friday, the green upholstery appeared nearly as fresh as when CTfastrak opened.

Several buses have long black marks along their sides, though, caused by brushing against the elevated platforms at busway stations.

Most bugs have been worked out of the new technology systems introduced with CTfastrak. Automated onboard station announcements appear to be functioning, and the digital “next bus arriving” signs at the station platforms are more accurate than when the busway opened.

Some glitches remain, though; a sign at the Sigourney Street station on Friday counted down the minutes until the next Route 102 bus would show up, then posted “ARR” to show it had pulled in. Soon after, the sign erased the entry altogether — but it was another two minutes before the bus itself actually arrived.