Transport White Paper

Cardiff Council’s Transport White Paper lays out an ambitious 10-year plan to tackle the climate emergency, reduce congestion and improve air quality in the Welsh capital. It has been developed following consultation with thousands of city residents, health and transport experts.

Options are being considered for the delivery of the £1 – 2bn transport vision, which is designed to transform Cardiff and South East Wales’ transport network through a series of projects which could revolutionise active travel and public transport options in Cardiff and the region.

View the press release for the Transport White Paper [External link opens in a new window]

Subject to a Scrutiny call in

The plans include:

• The Cardiff Metro – new Cardiff Crossrail and Cardiff Circle tram-train lines connecting new and existing communities across the city, including new and improved stations. Working closely with partners, including Welsh Government and Transport for Wales, we will support the launch of an integrated-ticketing system, so people can travel by train, bus and bike hire using one ticket.
• Rapid Bus Transport – improving services by establishing a new cross-city bus network linked to the new Metro. This will include a new circular bus loop around the city centre, which will mean easier cross city journeys for passengers, and new bus stations in the east and west of the city. To make travel by bus more affordable the Council is proposing to work with bus operators to reduce fares to £1 across the city.
• Active Travel and improvements to our streets – a high-quality, safe and fully segregated cycle network by 2026. This will include a complete cycle loop around the city centre which will connect to each of six cycleways, which are planned for a number of districts across the city. The nextbike hire scheme will be expanded to at least 2000 bikes and new regional bike hire opportunities will be introduced to give more people the opportunity to join the scheme. The Council will also roll out a ‘Streets for Health Initiative’, so that streets are reclaimed as healthy public spaces for the public to enjoy, including default 20pmh limits across the city.
• The future use of the car – supporting the transition to lower emission vehicles, for example through significantly increasing the number of electric charging points across Cardiff and expanding car club availability across the city. SMART technology will use real-time travel information to monitor and respond to transport, traffic and parking data, easing congestion on SMART transport corridors.
• Infrastructure to support the wider region – the Council is proposing a rapid-bus regional network with regular affordable bus services operating every 15-20 minutes at peak times. This network will connect towns across the city region directly to the centre of Cardiff.

Significant improvements are also being made to all the major routes into the city, including:

• The Northwest Transport Corridor:
  Improvements designed to improve accessibility for the communities of Llantrisant and Talbot Green to and from Cardiff. Work has already started to build a new transport interchange at Waungron Road which will link to a new Park & Ride facility at Junction 32 of the M4 Motorway.
  Options for motorists to switch to travel by bus in the corridor are also being explored, with a rapid bus transport link on the A4232 into Cardiff Bay.
• Northern Corridor:
  A SMART Corridor will be piloted on a major section of the A470 between Coryton and Gabalfa and is expected to be introduced in 2020. SMART Corridors use real time information to intelligently manage the movement of traffic, public transport, pedestrians and cyclists. This will give passengers a more informed choice on how they wish to travel, and plan their journeys better before they travel.
• North and South East Corridors:
  Options are being explored to improve transport links, including infrastructure for walking and cycling.
• South West Corridor:
  To reduce congestion between Penarth and Cardiff, a number of options are being explored. These include a pilot electric bike scheme; interchange facilities at Cogan train station; investigations into the feasibility of walking and cycling facilities around the Penarth headland; and a Cardiff Barrage bus link between Penarth and Cardiff.