Bus passengers in Cathays won’t be able to catch a bus to and from the city centre because of a new cycle lane on where Gelligaer Street meets Whitchruch Road.
The cycle lane was introduced as part of Cardiff Council’s active travel scheme to encourage people to cycle and walk. But one resident argues “you couldn’t make this up”.
Ceri John Davies, who doesn’t drive a car, lives on Gelligaer Street and often uses bus routes 51 and 53. He says, along with other residents, he’s “disappointed” with Cardiff Bus’s decision not to have a service on the street.
“We’ve got a community WhatsApp group and there is quite a lot of frustration that the bus route’s been removed in the way it has”.
In a tweet, Cardiff Bus said the service has been changed because of safety reasons. The nearest bus service now travels down Cathays Terrace.
Although Ceri Davies accepts “there is an element of safety” behind the decision, he argues “you don’t simply withdraw a bus service like that. You mitigate the issue by re-engineering what you built in terms of the active travel”.
He says he supports Cardiff’s active travel efforts, but also “wants to encourage people to use public transport, and not encourage car use”.
Dr Justin Spinney is a cycling expert and lecturer in Human Geography at Cardiff University. He says he’s disappointed with the active travel scheme.
“I think the final outcome is that it’s a failing. You’ve effectively given some people an option of active travel but the option of public transport on that route has been taken away”.
“I’d always prioritise public transport. It’s generally more inclusive”.
Dr Spinney doesn’t understand Cardiff Bus’s decision, and says he “would love to be a fly on the wall in terms of why they’ve actually done this. My hunch is that it’s just made life a bit too difficult for them”.
“Whether it’s actually the fault of the cycle lane or not remains to be seen”.
Cardiff Bus and Cardiff Council have been approached for comment.