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The Council introduced the first electric trams in Cardiff on 1 May 1902 running between our Newport Road (Roath) Depot and the town centre, having, in that January, taken over the tracks and vehicles from the private Cardiff Tramway Company which had run horse trams and buses since 1870, although other operators had been running horse buses since at least 1845.
The first trolleybuses operated in the City on 1 March 1942 between Wood Street and Clarence Road, their introduction having been delayed by the outbreak of World War Two. The intention was to convert the remaining tramway system to trolleybus operation, then extend the network to include Ely, Fairwater, Llandaff, Rhiwbina, Llanishen, Cyncoed, Rumney and Tremorfa. The first stage was completed when the last tram operated on 20 February 1950 on the Whitchurch Road route when trolleybuses had taken over a large part of the tramway network. After this date, however, the only extension to the system was to Ely which took place on 8 May 1955. Although powers had been obtained to considerably expand the network, a volte face occured in 1961 when a decision was made to replace all the trolleybuses with motorbuses, the task being completed on 11 January 1970 when the last trolleybus ran between Green Farm Road and Roath Depot, bringing to an end 68 years of electric traction on the streets of Cardiff.
These two decades saw the introduction of many important changes. In 1972 the traditional Cardiff crimson and cream livery gave way after 70 years to the orange and white. The present livery of Burges blue and cream was introduced in 1999. The first midibuses were introduced in 1974 although it was not until 1987 that midibus operation really developed - with the first of the "Clipper" buses. Although the first "driver only" buses operated in May 1923, the general conversion to one person operation commenced in the early seventies and was gradually extended to all our services by 1980 with the Snowden Road service being the last one to lose its conductors. The City Centre bus lanes were first introduced in the mid-seventies and are now even more important as traffic congestion worsens. The very popular Cardiff Multiride Ticket was first introduced in 1974 and has gone from strength to strength ever since, with Multiride facilities now also available for regular travellers on our Caerphilly, Newport, Barry and the rural Vale services.
The 1985 Transport Act deregulated all bus services, except those in London, and obliged Local Authorities to establish private "arm's length" bus companies. Accordingly in October 1986 Cardiff County Council established its own company - Cardiff City Transport Services Limited (trading as Cardiff Bus). Links with the County Council remain strong. The Council owns all the shares in Cardiff Bus and is represented on the board of directors. As a private company however Cardiff Bus is not permitted to receive subsidies and is expected to make a contribution to its shareholder (the County Council) to recognise the Council's investment in the Company. In order to do this and to compete with other providers of transport, Cardiff Bus has to be run along commercial lines and to be successful. The Transport Act has produced mixed results throughout the country and many long established bus operators have either disappeared or been taken over. At Cardiff Bus a key objective has been to offer stable bus services to the benefit of its passengers, shareholder and employees alike.
Growth in the network of services provided by Cardiff Bus has involved significant increases in the size of the fleet and the number of employees at the Company. There has been a large increase in the numbers of midibuses and single deck vehicles. The expansion of midibus operation in particular has enabled the Company to retain and, in a number of cases, increase service frequencies with improved service penetration. In 1992, following the closure of the National Welsh bus company, Cardiff Bus extended its network of services into Barry and the rural Vale and increased bus services in the Caerphilly area. In addition to the traditional network of City services and the long established routes to Penarth, Newport, Senghenydd, Blackwood and Tredegar, Cardiff Bus now provides comprehensive bus services to, from and within Barry, the rural Vale and Caerphilly. Each weekday around 80,000 passenger journeys are made with Cardiff Bus and regular dividend payments are made to the shareholder to the benefit of local Council Tax payers. All new buses are now of the low floor concept which are designed to line up with special raised kerbs at bus stops. Bus shelters throughout the City and the Vale of Glamorgan are being replaced by the Councils concerned with stylish state of the art versions and in Cardiff electronic bus arrival displays are being installed area by area. This equipment is linked to new bus radio and location systems and the ticketing equipment – which not only keeps waiting passengers in touch with the running of their services, but also activates traffic lights to enable late running buses to gain precedence over other vehicles on the road. Travel Shops have been opened at Marks & Spencer in Queen Street and at King Square in Barry and the range of special tickets now includes the City Rider which allows unlimited travel on our buses in Cardiff and Penarth, and the Network Rider which covers the whole of South Wales in connection with other operators in the area. In May 2000 a new Telephone Call Centre was installed at Sloper Road and this provides remarkably detailed computer based timetable information for all bus and rail services throughout Wales.
We celebrated our centenary in 2002. Beyond that, it remains our key objective to supply stable and reliable bus services to all our passengers and to seek to improve and innovate. All the indications are that new developments in our network including the Cardiff Bay project will see the creation of new jobs and opportunities. Public transport requirements in the years ahead are set to grow and studies have been and are being made as to how these requirements are to be met. For our part we look forward to the challenge of playing our full part in meeting these requirements by continuing to provide our passengers with a first class service. Thank you for travelling with Cardiff Bus. Finally, if you have any suggestions as to how we might improve our services we would be pleased to hear from you!
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