System Cardiff Bus | ||
 | ||
Vehicle Scania Omnicity (Articulated) Locale Cardiff city centre, Cardiff Bay Start Porth Teigr or Wales Millennium Centre Via Norwegian Church, Senedd, Red Dragon Centre, Central Station, St. David's, Intl Arena, Queen Street station, Cathays Park, Cardiff Hilton, Cardiff Castle, St Mary's Street, Millennium Stadium, Central Station, Red Dragon Centre, Senedd, Norwegian Church End Wales Millennium Centre or Porth Teigr | ||
Baycar (also styled as baycar) is a bus service in Cardiff, serving the city centre and Cardiff Bay.
Contents
The service forms part of the wider Cardiff Bus network, but is unique in that the entire Baycar bus system includes its own branded vehicles, bus shelters and boards.
History
The service was introduced in 2006 to connect the city centre to the old Cardiff docklands redeveloped to create Cardiff Bay, a primarily entertainment and retail area.
In 2007, the service was used by 39,000 each month.
Under the 5-year contract, the bus service was subsidised £200,000 per year by Cardiff Council, which owns Cardiff Bus, and by the Welsh Government.
The Baycar system came second to consumer watchdog Bus Users UK Cymru Wales, under the Best Example of Participation in Transport category, at the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport Wales' National Transport Awards in 2007.
Service pattern
Services run from around 06:00 until 23:30 Monday to Saturdays (from 08:00 on Sundays and Bank Holidays). Buses run every 10 minutes Monday–Friday daytimes, every 15 minutes Sat-Sun daytimes and every 20 minutes Monday–Friday late evenings.
The core service operates runs from the Wales Millennium Centre to the northern city centre. The route is extended during peak times (Monday–Friday 0645–1930 (to Civic Centre) / 0645–2010 (to Porth Teigr)) so that the north of the route runs through Cathays Park (the Civic Centre) and the south of the route extends to Porth Teigr.
Fares on the service are £1.80 for a single, or £3.60 for a return (as of October 2014).
Vehicles
The vehicles, all presently articulated Scania OmniCity, have their own distinct livery, and are equipped with seats with leather headrests, air-conditioning, reserved spaces for buggies and wheelchairs, CCTV, on-bus screens with local travel information and BBC News 24 bulletins, hearing induction loop and next stop information.
Route
The route leaves Cardiff Bay and then circles the city centre anti-clockwise, returning south to towards Cardiff Bay. On Friday and Saturday nights and during events at the Millennium Stadium, only the eastern and northern parts of the city centre are served due to road closures to vehicles. In this case, the baycar service terminates in the city centre at Greyfriars, not continuing down Kingsway and St. Mary Street.
Amongst the landmarks and attractions served are: