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'Cardiff Bus' (Welsh: ''Bws Caerdydd'') is the dominant bus operator in the Welsh capital Cardiff and the surrounding area, including Barry and Penarth. The company is wholly owned by Cardiff Council and is one of the few municipal bus companies to survive the effects of UK bus deregulation in the late 1980s.

Contents

History

Operations

Controversy

Fleet

See also

References

External links

History

While horse buses (and later horse trams) had run in the city since 1845, Cardiff Bus can trace its history back to 1902, when the borough council took over and electrified a tram line between Roath and the city centre. It had been previously run by the Cardiff Tramway Company. The resultant Cardiff Corporation Tramways spent the next 3 decades extending its electric tram network, and at its peak in 1927 ran 141 electric trams over 18 miles of line.
On Christmas Eve 1920, the corporation introduced its first motor buses, although the first motor bus route was operated by the Cardiff Tramway Company from 1907.
The first trolleybuses were introduced in 1942, their introduction having been delayed by the outbreak of World War II. The intention was to convert the remaining tramway system to trolleybus operation, then to extend the network. While the first stage was completed in 1950, the only extension made to the system was to Ely which took place in 1955. Although powers had been obtained to considerably expand the network, a policy U-turn occurred in 1961 when the decision was made to replace all the trolleybuses with motor buses. This task was completed in 1970, bringing to an end 68 years of electric traction on the streets of Cardiff.
The 1985 Transport Act deregulated bus services outside London and required all Local Authorities to establish private "arm's length" bus companies. In October 1986 the council established its own wholly owned company - 'Cardiff City Transport Services Limited', trading as 'Cardiff Bus'. In 1992, the closure of the National Welsh bus company led Cardiff Bus to extend and intensify its network in the areas and towns surrounding Cardiff, including Barry, the Vale of Glamorgan and Caerphilly. The Caerphilly local network of services including links between Cardiff, Caerphilly, Blackwood and Tredegar were discontinued in 2001 and are now provided by Stagecoach in South Wales and IBT.
Some loss-making services have been withdrawn and are operated under local authority tender by other companies, including Bebb Travel and the former Shamrock group, now owned by Bebb's proprietor Veolia. Several operate entirely within the City of Cardiff, while some in the Vale of Glamorgan are operated by ESTbus.

Operations

Each weekday Cardiff Bus carries around 80,000 passengers.
The operator has an 'Exact fare'/'No change given' policy. This has generated some criticism as its implementation often results in passengers paying more than the necessary fare. This can be due to not having the correct change or, more commonly, tourists and visitors being unaware of the policy until after they have deposited money. The reasoning behind the policy is that if the driver does not have to deal with giving change, passenger loading times are shortened, resulting in a faster and more reliable service. It also reduce the risk of attacks on drivers.
Real-time digital information displays are positioned at many stops around the city, informing people when the next bus is due and alerting waiting passengers of any delays. Raised kerbs have been installed at the majority of stops.

Controversy

Cardiff Bus's dominant position has sometimes come in for criticism and investigation, such as when in 2004 it launched a basic service to Swansea in competition with 2Travel. The Office of Fair Trading eventually launched an investigation in 2007 into claims of "preditory behaviour" 18months after 2Travel had ceased the service and gone into liquidation.^[1][2]

Fleet

The current fleet is composed of 241 buses^[3] with new low-floor buses being progressively introduced.
In May 2006, Cardiff Bus invested £4.5m in 19 new Scania OmniCity articulated "bendy" buses to provide much needed extra capacity on the busiest routes. Thirteen operate exclusively on the 17/18 Ely route, branded "capital city red" and four buses operate on the Bay and City Centre link service known as "baycar".
In 2007, they have ordered 13 Scania N230UD/East Lancs Olympus and 15 Scania Omnicities due for delivery in August/September of 2007. They will replace the Leyland Lynxs, the Optare MetroRiders, Volvo Alisas and the N-registration Dennis Darts.

See also

★ List of bus companies

★ Municipal bus companies

★ Transport in Wales

References

★ 26 September 2005 - 'History of Cardiff Bus' at cardiffbus.com. Accessed 5 October 2005
1. http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0300business/0100news/tm_headline=oft-under-fire-for-delays-in-cardiff-bus-case&method=full&objectid=19109312&siteid=50082-name_page.html
2. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_east/6657685.stm
3. http://www.cardiffbus.com/company/fleet/fleet.htm

External links

★ Cardiff Bus website

★ Cardiff Council website

★ 'Welsh-Transport Heritage' - A look back into the history and buses operated by Cardiff Corporation and other Welsh operators