Two Plaid Cymru candidates for Penarth have started a petition to get a bus service running between Cardiff and Penarth through the night.
Aled Thomas and Anne Greagsby say they hope it will appeal to people who are working late or have been in out in town late at night.
Mr Thomas says, “There are a lot of people who work in Cardiff until the early hours of the morning, for example, care workers who are on hospital night shifts, people who are using bars and nightclubs and the people who work there.
“I thoroughly believe there would be a demand for this service if it operated in such a way that it would run through Penarth, Dinas Powys and Barry.”
Mr Thomas says the ideal route for this late night bus service would be the number 93 bus which it runs from Cardiff to Barry via Penarth and Dinas Powys.
The last bus on this route currently leaves at 7 pm.
He says he thinks the bus should initially be subsidised by the Vale of Glamorgan Council to see if the scheme works, and then if it proves popular, he would hope it would be funded by Cardiff Bus and people paying a small fare.
“Cardiff Bus have already started another late night bus route in other parts of Cardiff and they have been successful. There are a lot of people who use this because they need to commute or they’re travelling at early hours of the morning.”
According to the Cardiff Bus website only two night buses are currently in operation. Route 8 from the Bay to Heath and route 18 which goes through the city centre and Canton .
Responding to comments from people online, Mr Thomas said, “It certainly wouldn’t be a waste of council money to invest in this service. People need to travel at an affordable and sustainable cost 24/7, not only during times that buses [and trains] are running.”
Cardiff Bus and the Vale of Glamorgan Council have so far been unavailable for comment.
