CHANGES to a Caerau bus route could cause problems for elderly residents, a Cardiff councillor has warned.
From November 6, the number 15 bus route will no longer travel through two residential streets in Caerau as part of its journey from the University Hospital Wales (UHW) to Cardiff city centre.
According to Councillor Peter Bradbury, this means that elderly residents living on Heol Yr Odyn and Cwrt-Yr-Ala will now have to walk roughly 800 yards to the nearest bus stop on Caerau Lane.
For pensioners with reduced mobility the change could mean they will not be able to travel into town or carry heavy shopping home.
Coun Bradbury said: “I want to save the burden for my elderly constituents who aren’t as mobile as they once were,” adding that many pensioners “rely on the 15 bus route.”
Residents will now have to walk to Caerau lane to board the number 15 bus
Norma Beadle, aged 81 from Heol-Yr-Odyn told The Cardiffian she depended on the bus stop to visit her husband at UHW before his death two weeks ago.She explained that if her husband were still alive now she would not know the new bus times and stops to go and visit him.
She said: “People in the area will miss it. My friend used to know all the bus times so we could go shopping in Aldi but I’m not sure when the bus will go now.”
Another resident added that the she hadn’t heard anything about the change to the route. Mrs Geanette from Caerau Lane said: “I use the bus to go to my appointments in the hospital. Which bus stop will the number 15 use now?”
The bus route has been altered as part of a series of hand-overs from Cardiff Bus to its sister company Capital Links. However, Coun Bradbury said “no mention of it was made in an email sent to [Councillor Elaine Simmons]”.
He also suggested that the new route may be because of the bigger buses used by Capital Links, which would have trouble navigating the narrow residential streets. Capital Links, however, have stated that the issue also lies with the “on-street parking along this section of route.”
A petition has been set up to try and restore the original bus route. Coun Bradbury said that the aim is to get as many signatures as possible before presenting it to Cardiff Council and Cardiff Bus.
However he was quick to stress that the petition is “not a confrontation with Cardiff Bus.
“We have worked very closely with Cardiff Bus and we’re happy with it. We just want to persuade them to keep the old route”.
The petition currently has 48 signatures and can be signed here: http://tinyurl.com/odrpywy
In response to the petition, Capital Links said that the hand-over from Cardiff bus will allow the service to run more frequently and have “financially stability”. The company added that a new bus stop has been created on Careau Lane at the end of Heol-Yr-Odyn.
