Cycling is fastest way to commute in Cardiff – new study
Ted Peskett, local democracy reporter
Cycling is the fastest way to commute in Cardiff, according to a study carried out by a campaign group.
Cardiff Cycle City, whose aim is to promote cycling in the Welsh capital, carried out its commute challenge with four teams of three people who each travelled by car, public transport and bike.
Each team made their way to Cardiff Castle from different areas across the city or just outside it.
For each team, cycling was the fastest mode of transport by at least 10 minutes.
Peak times
Chair of Cardiff Cycle City, Chris Roberts, said: “The results of the Commuter Challenge clearly show that the bike is the best way to get around Cardiff, especially at peak times.
“Lots of people assume that cars are always quicker but that simply isn’t the case in many urban areas.
“The sheer volume of traffic on our roads inevitably means lots of delays at junctions and traffic lights, and when you add in the time it takes to park and then walk to your final destination, the bike is often the quickest option.”
Chris noted that as the challenge took place during the school holidays, this had an affect on the level of traffic on the road and how long it took for the cyclists to get from A to B.
The people who took part in the challenge were either volunteers associated with Cardiff Cycle City or friends of volunteers.
In most cases, public transport came out as being faster than, or equally as fast as using the car.
Here is a closer look at the results of each team in the challenge.
The west Cardiff team, starting from Farm Foods on Cowbridge Road West in Ely
Bus: 47 minutes
Car: 29 minutes
Cycle: 16 minutes
The north west Cardiff team, starting from Llandaff railway station
Train: 22 minutes
Car: 24 minutes
Cycle: 16 minutes
The north east Cardiff team, starting from Heath High Level railway station
Train: 23 minutes
Car: 23 minutes
Cycle: 13 minutes
The southern team, starting from Penarth railway station
Train: 28
Car: 35
Cycle: 19
Chris added: “Of course we understand that not everyone can or wants to cycle – though we’re hoping that the challenge will inspire more people to give it a try.
“But if more people who could, chose to ride a bike rather than drive a car, it would leave the roads clearer for those who have to drive.”
Getting people to travel by cycling or public transport instead of using their car remains a challenge for Cardiff Council.
The difficulties of rail travel in Wales have been well documented over the years.
Bus companies changed and got rid of a number of their services last year and the city’s abused OVO bike share scheme has been removed.
However, a number of measures are being put in place to try and encourage people to change the way they visit and move around the city.
Work continues to complete the development of six cycleways across Cardiff and the city council’s cabinet gave its support in March for a plan that will look to develop new bus lanes, new bus stops, parking restrictions and improvements to key junctions.
There is also still work going on to investigate a potential congestion charge for Cardiff.
Congestion charge
When we asked Cardiff Council for an update in April on a potential congestion charge, it said early consultation work had taken place with key stakeholders and that feedback from this was being assessed.
The local authority also said it was speaking with the Welsh Government about funding for the next stage of the proposal, which would be to complete a full business case on possible options for a road user charge before moving to a full public consultation.
In its most recent update the council said it was aiming at taking a final decision on implementing a scheme by 2026.
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My old commute (10 miles) used to take me 15 min in the car at night, anything from 30-60 minutes by car during rush hour and 50 minutes by bike. For most of my jobs I’ve managed to commute by bike and I’m glad of it. It’s done me a world of good.
16 mins by cycle from llandaf? Reckless Food Delivery ebike maybe…..
As someone who walks and cycles the taff trail the times are fanciful..
15 mph on a slight downhill route. Why would they use the staff trail,that’s longer than the alternative
In my experience cyclists in Cardiff pretty dangerous on the whole. Most don’t comply with the rules of the road, they damage cars and ride off with no means of identification, most pay no heed to the needs of pedestrians including children and the elderly, and make walking in parks and on the Taff trail a pretty miserable experience. I have been overtaken by cyclists going way over 20 miles an hour on the roads, weaving in and out of cars and doing wheelies at high speed on the roads and pavements. Speed of getting into the city centre should… Read more »
Yes I had an instance of this the other day on the stretch of road by Lidl Waitrose in Pentwyn two young laddies on illegal Ebikes all balaclavas and black clothing so you cant identify them, they were captured on my dashcam but has you cant see who they are its dead in the water. Its a minority of cyclists but a danger none the less, the police are probably powerless in stopping them due to how quick they can get away. A legal Ebike is only supposed to travel at 12 mph the illegal ones have dial a speed… Read more »
15.5 mph to be pedantic.
People doing wheelies at over 20mph? Really?
Yes really the ones I saw in Pentwyn, I was doing 20 mph they were easily doing 30 mph by the time I got to the Village Inn roundabout they were well down the road that goes to Aldi’s. And I have seen the wheelie poppers so the lady is right
Yes really the cobbled together ebike kits will do this electric motors over the legal 250 watts
They need to bring back the Next/OVO bikes, as a fairly regular user I was gutted when they removed that. There should have been more attempts at catching the criminals who ruined it for everyone.
Lots of people are unable to cycle for various reasons and our weather certainly doesn’t lend itself to cycling for a commute or just generally getting around. It’s great to encourage cycling but not to force it on people.
No such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing.
There’s a lot that could still be done to make cycling in Cardiff easier but it’s pointless until there’s somewhere safe to leave a bike in the city centre.
The bike thieves are easy to spot (they’re the ones with black hoods and masks and bolt cutters in their pockets), so if there were any police it would be easy for them to deal with them.
Alternatively, I’d be happy to pay for somewhere secure to park my bike. There are plenty of enormous multistorey car parks – I’m surprised it’s not commercially viable to provide secure cycle parking.
I thought this also.
Probably need 1 maybe 2 car spaces for about 50 bikes.
There’s plenty of places to lock your bike, but I’m always nervous about doing so, and I would like some cover for my bike from the rain!
Bikes can filter through queues of traffic, and can take shorter routes, that cars can’t.
Ofc bikes are faster!
I find it hilarious when a car overtakes me, only for them to brake and join a queue of cars 3secs later.
As I breeze to the front “byeeee”
Exactly, drivers often overtake me and I catch up to them at the next junction/lights.