Through partnership working with First Cymru the majority of students and staff are travelling by bus.  First Cymru reported seeing  around an extra   18,000 journeys being made on its bus network in the first week which it directly attributes to staff and student travel.

 Justin Davies MD stated that: ‘this is the largest logistical operation of movement of people in the area that we have ever witnessed’ and hailed the partnership with the University as a success.

An additional 5 Brand new liveried buses have been introduced into the network which has helped with capacity due to the large numbers of users on the service.  First Cymru have also along with the Local Authority and University had a staff presence to ensure students know which bus services go to which Campus.

The University has always wanted the services to operate commercially as they are very keen for newly introduced bus services to benefit the whole community.  Additional services 8 and 4 benefit those travelling for hospital appointments and the benefit of the number 10 service is the direct link to the rail station for people travelling in from Sketty.

The investment in vehicles for the new bus service 8 and 10 has a value of £1.64 million, 29 drivers are dedicated to the work - they pump over £700,000 of wages into the local economy per annum. The vehicle cleaning firm is a local Swansea business; all the bus vinyls are done by a local Swansea business. The buses are British Built by ADL in Scotland.

From November the 1^st the number 10 service will provide a link from the Uplands / Sketty straight to Singleton Hospital for the first time ever. This will benefit the local community needing to access healthcare facilities.

Service 8 provides a cross city link from West to East, again never before provided and giving direct access to the Bay Campus from West Swansea. It also opens up access to SA1 and the jobs available in that area. The FTR (bendy bus) has also made a return under the 8X service. This will provide a direct return shuttle bus service between both campuses with a journey time of 22 minutes once every hour. Both 8 + 10 serve not only Singleton and Bay Campus but ease access to Singleton Hospital, a well-known car park congestion hot spot. 

Singleton Campus has become a useful interchange point for any users seeking to travel around Swansea by bus. It has direct links to Morriston, Morriston Hospital Sketty, Mumbles, Pennard, The Bay, City Centre, Liberty Stadium, Railway Station and many other locations around the city.

Swansea University through the University Travel Planning Group continue to work with partners First Cymru, City and County of Swansea and Neath Port Talbot Council, Students Union and others to provide sustainable travel solutions for students and staff.

Picture 1: Members of the Swansea University Travel Plan Group with a Unibus.

Left to right are: Cath Swain, Group leader Transportation, City and County of Swansea, Siona Masters, Administrator,  Estates Department,  Swansea University, Robert Loosemore, (My Uni Hub)  Swansea University, Jayne Cornelius, Swansea University Travel Plan Coordinator, Mark Byrne, First Cymru Driver, Andy Stevens, First Cymru Driver, Margaret Cherrington, Concourse Inspector First Cymru, Lyn Harvey, Operations Manager First Cymru.

Picture 2: Swansea University FTR Unibus.  

For full details of the UniBus Network and further information on sustainable travel please visit: http://www.swansea.ac.uk/sustainability/travel