People living in Rumney say they are fed up of seeing empty bus lanes on Newport Road. The lanes were introduced in 2010 and car users say they cause a backlog of traffic for other road users.
Beverley and Mike Lewis, both in their 50s, have lived on New Road in Rumney for 23 years. They say there is a demand for people travelling to the East of Cardiff but the roads can not deal with it.
“We’ve developed this shopping centre, bringing in big businesses like Morrisons, Sainsburys and Marks and Spencer so you’ve got more vehicles on a smaller amount of road. Of course there is going to be congestion.”
Mrs Lewis says on a Saturday she can sit in bumper-to-bumper traffic for half an hour for what should be a two minute journey. “In this time one or two buses used the lane and it was frustrating to look at.”
Congestion on New Road trying the meet Newport Road
Gareth Lloyd, 50, is standing as Conservative councillor for Rumney in May. He says the problem has got worse in the past few years. He says, “people are not going to stop using their cars. They want to be able to jump in their car with their family and not have to worry about it.” Mr Lloyd suggests sharing the bus lane during peak times to make the traffic flow better.
Empty bus lane on Newport Road
But for some people, the bus lanes are essential. Becky Harford, 36, says “as a public transport user, the public transport in the East of Cardiff doesn’t run on schedule as it is. To get rid of lanes would cause more problems for an already restricted service.”
In a statement, Cardiff City Council say “if someone is in a traffic jam and can see a bus go past them in a dedicated lane, rather than complain that they have a guaranteed lane, maybe they should think about travelling by bus instead and leave their car at home.”
