Whilst the number of council-owned bus companies slowly reduces, a visit by Martin Curtis to council-owned Cardiff Bus found the business to be thriving
In addition to motor buses, Cardiff Corporation was once a major trolleybus operator, with electric power supplied to vehicles from overhead wires. The route network covered the city, and trolleybus termini consisted of turning circles to avoid a reversing manoeuvre, many of which remain in place.
The current route pattern has since evolved with extensions and revisions, but continues to offer extensive coverage of the whole city. Thirty-five basic routes are provided, with many having variations within these; daytime frequencies range between every five minutes, to just six departures on Mondays to Fridays only.
Bws Caerdydd/Cardiff Bus celebrated its 120th anniversary last year. It remains by far the most prominent operator in the Welsh capital, with its fleet of well over 180 vehicles which service a daily peak vehicle requirement of around 150. The average age profile of the fleet is gradually reducing with a number of older vehicles awaiting disposal. Most buses are equipped with on-board CCTV and WiFi.
[wlm_nonmember][…]By subscribing you will benefit from:
- Operator & Supplier Profiles
- Face-to-Face Interviews
- Lastest News
- Test Drives and Reviews
- Legal Updates
- Route Focus
- Industry Insider Opinions
- Passenger Perspective
- Vehicle Launches
- and much more!
Briefly, before Covid-19 restrictions were introduced, a low-cost unit was established with drivers working under different terms and conditions in an attempt to save some of the least remunerative services. Gareth Stevens, Cardiff Bus’ Commercial Director, explained that this was not sufficient to save such services, which couldn’t survive commercially. Whilst these services were largely lost, some sections have since been covered by inviting tenders on a contract basis.
Impact of electric buses
Thirty-six buses are all-electric single-deck Yutong E12s. Cardiff Bus has operated these for only a year, yet they are already well established and each easily achieves daily mileage in excess of 170 miles without recharging. Company publicity states each bus saves approximately 1,512 tonnes of CO2 per annum.
Managing Director Paul Dyer said: ”We are very proud of these vehicles which have transformed the depot for our staff – and improved comfort for our passengers. Another grant has been applied for from the Welsh Assembly Government through Cardiff Council, to expand the electric fleet further.”
Gareth added, “Cardiff’s air quality problems, in particular the CO2 levels that caused Air Quality Management Zones to be introduced before Covid-19 occurred, are no longer at the same levels. Post-pandemic our recovery has been largely built on electric buses.”
Other vehicles in the fleet include predominantly those of Alexander Dennis, Mercedes-Benz and Scania manufacture. Perhaps surprisingly for a major city, only 32 buses are double-deckers, although this represents an increase recently to provide additional capacity following the withdrawal of Cardiff’s articulated vehicles at the end of their fifteen year operational life. As other companies have found, the practicalities of running articulated buses presents a number of challenges, ranging from junction layout clearances to road space availability. The lack of suitable new buses has caused the replacement buses to revert to those of two axle design, although future use of articulated buses was not ruled out by Paul if a suitable model became available.
Passenger loyalty
Cardiff Bus is a profitable organisation and post-pandemic, whilst Wales as a whole has regained around 70% of its public transport patronage, at Cardiff Bus this has already reached 80%. This is despite – as elsewhere – the pandemic having changed many people’s work and lifestyle patterns which has resulted in reduced travel needs.
As an arms-length council-owned company, remaining viable continues to be important, with memories of the demise of former NBC companies in South Wales after privatisation still in mind, whilst politically, serving the council’s population is very significant and patronage is surprisingly high at all times of day. Unlike so many city operations outside London during the past 60 years, where a general decline in passenger numbers has occurred with an increase in car ownership and far less reliance on public transport, travelling on a Cardiff service still sees passengers regularly striking up a conversion with a strong community feel on board. It is encouraging that male and female customers of all age groups can constantly be seen travelling.
With a strong following among its passengers, fares have been largely held since March 2019, at £2 for a single and £4 for a day ticket, with other offers available, although Paul emphasised that whilst this is currently especially welcome with the cost of living crisis, it has only been possible with Government support. Gareth said he felt it was not only the value for money which was appreciated by both passengers and staff, but also the improving quality of the service offered.
Ticketer ticket issuing and fare collection equipment is installed across the fleet which includes a tap-on tap-off facility. From observations while making journeys around the city, only a minority of passengers seem to pay by cash; and as occurs in many locations, those passengers who receive a paper ticket often instantly discard it into the bin. The concept of retaining your ticket while travelling seems to be lost now, especially among younger travellers.
Real-time information displays can be found at many bus stops, which has widely transformed passenger confidence in knowing a bus will appear, while the Cardiff Bus app and very impressive website allow tracking of services with waiting time information. All this further instils confidence in the passenger when planning or preparing to make a journey.
Attracting and retaining staff
Not being under the control of a major group gives the company the freedom to react locally, for commercial reasons and to build higher standards which encourages recruitment and retention.
A small level of competition exists in the city. Two large group operators have services which in some cases duplicate Cardiff Bus routes, while one independent has embarked on cross-city routes which directly compete. Nevertheless, 550 staff are employed, 450 of whom are drivers. Unlike many others parts of the UK, only a 10% shortage of staff exists, which the operator says is manageable, with a limited number of agency drivers engaged and recruitment continuing at a healthy pace. Cardiff Bus has the benefit of having a small driver training fleet and its own dedicated driving examiner, with frustrating delays in processing licences now largely overcome.
Better canteen and rest facilities in the city centre have been introduced and pay rates and terms are said to be the best in Wales. This includes revised, modern uniforms which are more in keeping with current trends.
Providing a better quality working environment for drivers and engineers has also been tackled and Paul stressed the efforts being made to offer better working conditions for staff and improving customer care. The current CPC theme for example is a customer care workshop, and those drivers encountered during our visit were found to be extremely helpful and courteous. Paul provides hand-written commendations when appropriate for staff where good feedback is received, together with the award of vouchers, and likes to celebrate the success of staff.
There are currently no part-time drivers employed, although this is being reconsidered, especially with a view to encouraging over-50s to return to the business in order to ease the recruitment process.
Service Delivery Director David Conway explained that the fleet age profile had been reduced with the aim of offering more modern vehicles for staff to drive. To achieve this, some vehicles have been hired on short term leases from Mistral, easily identifiable as they retain white livery but with Cardiff’s bi-lingual branding, plus some second-hand purchases.
The depot environment
However, among the most notable improvements in quality, which is quite remarkable, are the electric buses. Not only are these much quieter on the road, but their impact on the depot environment is astonishing. Cardiff’s main depot and company offices are at the capacious Sloper Road premises. Here, carefully marked out charging positions allow this process to occur without the usual oil and fuel spills found in most bus garages. Charging takes only three hours and the improvement this has had on the depot environment has made a considerable impact, which will continue to grow as electric bus operation expands.
Elsewhere in the depot there are spacious areas for mechanical attention to be given including an inspection pit area; body repairs are undertaken and a small paint shop is available where brush painting occurs – spray painting being out-sourced when required. Buses acquired from RATP London and another council-owned company, Reading Buses, were being prepared for service at the time of our visit.
The workshop area is overlooked by the engineering supervisors’ office with computerised work stations which oversee activity, while alongside are operational controllers with display screens for service monitoring and driver positioning. Accordingly, close cooperation of these functions is not only possible but encouraged. Council-owned bus companies seem to be at the forefront of such technology, which clearly enables service delivery to be constantly monitored.
City without a bus station
Cardiff once boasted a large bus station located adjacent to Cardiff Central railway station, where both Cardiff Bus’ city and other operators’ ‘country’ services terminated. Pre-pandemic this was closed as major city centre re-development commenced and the site is now partly occupied by the new BBC Cymru Wales building.
A new, much smaller 14-bay covered bus station is now under construction on a nearby site, but in the meantime bus stops have been scattered around the central area, sometimes moving positions as redevelopment work progresses. Confusion for passengers and the loss of a central location to find all services has been harmful and as stated by Paul: “This hasn’t encouraged people to use buses.” Gareth added: “It has led to uncertainty of where buses go from.”
This is a point which now appears to have been recognised by the city council and it is hoped the new bus station will not only take buses back off the streets to a common starting location but will be clear to understand and offer better passenger facilities.
Livery
Anniversary liveries have been applied to selected vehicles in recent years, including one in the Corporation’s original maroon and cream, which remains in service, and another in bright orange with white band as introduced during the early 1970s. The latter generated such a positive reaction from the public, many of whom considered it a nostalgic reminder of their youth, that orange has been incorporated in abundance to the company’s latest liveries.
Route branding is also favoured to boost both customer loyalty and driver commitment to services, so the latest applications combine this thinking with the widespread use of orange. It has to be said that this works well, and versions applied to the electric vehicles are particularly impressive and reflect a high quality image.
The future
Among the continued frustrations for bus operators in Cardiff is the continued delays caused by traffic congestion, which has still to be fully addressed. There is also concern about plans to reduce the present 30mph speed limit throughout the city to 20mph from September, and the effect this will have on schedules and traffic flows. The Cardiff Bus team is nevertheless determined to further improve quality and service standards and all they are currently engaged in reflects this. The management team sees this approach as beneficial for both passengers and employees, and is prepared for any future challenges that may present themselves.
