No stopping the revolutionary Bwcabus

BWCABUS is revolutionising public transport in rural west Wales.
The outreach bus service is exceeding all expectations having carried its 10,000th passenger three-months ahead of schedule.

Bwcabus was launched in August 2009. It is an on-demand local bus service tailored to the needs of passengers in Teifi Valley’s rural villages by delivering them to local towns, villages or hubs along the main route of the 460 bus service from Carmarthen to Cardigan.

Bwcabus uses state of the art scheduling technology developed by the Wales Transport Research Centre at the University of Glamorgan by booking passengers on to the bus from its bilingual call centre operated by Traveline Cymru.

Bwcabus is the brainchild of Welsh transport expert, Professor Stuart Cole. It  was developed through a partnership between Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion local authorities, funded by the European Regional Development Fund and the Welsh Assembly Government.

The goals of the project are to improve access to key services for rural communities, to address a continual decline in patronage on rural bus services and to provide a flexible and more feasible local public transport service to areas with limited or no bus provision.

The Bwcabus service was expected to carry 9,299 passengers a year, but has driven through the 10,000 passengers barrier in the first 10-months increasing public transport use in the area by more than 40per cent.

The areas from which most bookings are occurring are north of Newcastle Emlyn,  Rhydlewis, Coed y Bryn, and Brongset

Carmarthenshire council executive board member for the environment and transport services, Cllr Haydn Jones, said: “This is tremendous news for Bwcabus. To have achieved 10,000 passenger journeys two-months ahead of schedule is great news for the project.

“I am delighted that so many community’s have taken to the new transport concept. Had the new Bwcabus service not been introduced many rural villages would be without a bus service. It provides an integrated solution to people’s travelling needs.

“It’s such a success that early discussions have taken place with the Assembly on developing Bwcabus 2 and  research will be undertaken in the summer to identify opportunities for expanding the service.”  

Regular passenger, Mrs C.H. Jackson, of Tregroes said: “Bwcabus  provides and excellent service. It enables me to access key services. Previously I had to walk nearly three-miles in both directions to reach the nearest town. I now have freedom to come and go as I please, and enjoy a better quality of life.”

Source: Kelly Philips, Bwcabus Project Co-ordinator