Baycar

Bus service in Cardiff

6 baycar


Overview
System	Cardiff Bus
Vehicle	Scania Omnicity (Articulated)
Route
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
Service
Frequency	10 mins (15–20 mins off-peak)
Journey time	34 mins

Baycar (also styled as baycar) is a bus service in Cardiff, connecting the city centre and Cardiff Bay.

The service forms part of the wider Cardiff Bus network. The baycar used to be themed with its own branded vehicles, bus shelters and boards.^[1]

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 week.^[1]

Under the 5-year contract, the bus service was subsidised £200,000 per month by Cardiff Council, which owns Cardiff Bus, and by the Welsh Government.^[2]

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.^[1]

Service pattern

Services originally ran from around 06:00 until 23:30 Monday to Saturdays (from 08:00 on Sundays and Bank Holidays). Buses ran every 10 minutes Monday–Friday daytimes, every 15 minutes Sat-Sun daytimes and every 20 minutes Monday–Friday late evenings.

The core service operated from the Wales Millennium Centre to the northern end of the city centre. The route was extended during peak times (Monday–Friday 0645–1930 (to Civic Centre) / 0645–2010 (to Porth Teigr) so that the northern end of the route ran through Cathays Park (the Civic Centre) and the south of the route extended to Porth Teigr.^[3]

The route Baycar currently takes has been significantly shortened, running only between Canal Street in the city centre, to the Millennium Centre.[1] Normal operating days incorporate one bus running back and forth forming a half-hourly service from each end.

During summer 2024, Cardiff Bus were unable to run the popular Skycar (open top bus) service to Penarth via Cardiff Bay due to local bridge heights being changed. Instead, a second bus was assigned to the route for the peak season to form a quarter-hourly service from approximately 1000-1800.

Fares on the service are £2.40 for a single, or £4.70 for a day-to-go ticket (as of August 2024).

Vehicles

Baycar used to operate solely using the ADL Enviro 200 and Scania Omnicity having its own distinct blue, bay themed livery. It was equipped with seats incorporating leather headrests, air-conditioning, reserved spaces for pushchairs and wheelchairs, CCTV, free WiFi, passenger information screens (with local travel information, next stop announcements and diversion information) and a hearing induction loop.^[4]

Baycar no longer operates using a dedicated, branded vehicle. Instead the route is assigned to the new electric Yutong E12 fleet that was delivered in March 2024.

Due to recently adjusted bridge height clearances on the route, double decker vehicles are unable to operate the Baycar route.