Location and on site/local facilities Accessing the Commissioner’s office Public Transport o Bus o Coach o Train o Aquabus Park and Ride Highway Access o Cycling o Car Parking Arrangements 1 The Commissioner’s office is on Mount Stuart Square in the Cardiff Bay area of Cardiff which is in an area of mixed residential and business use close to local amenities. Location Map: There are cafés, shops and banks within walking distance of the site, as well as a train station with services to the centre of Cardiff. We do not have formal teleconferencing facilities; however, we do have access to skype and a teleconferencing phone. 2 Public transport Bus The office has good access to public transport. There are 19 bus stops close to the office, as illustrated on the map below: The closest bus stops are: The NatWest Buildings which has a clean, covered shelter with seating and live travel updates. The buses that stop here are: 8 service to County Hall 13 service to Canton and Drope The Millennium Centre, Bute Place which has a clean, covered shelter with seating and live travel updates. The buses that stop here are: 304 service to Kings Square, Barry 6 service to Welsh Government Office 8 service to City Centre 13 service to Cardiff International Sports Village 89A Service to Dinas Powys 3 X8 Service to Thornhill X10 Service to Swansea 25 Service to Caerphilly Mermaid Quay, which is an uncovered bus stop. The buses that stop here are: 2 Service City Circular 8 service to City Centre 1 service City Circular Coach Both National Express and Megabus run coach services to Cardiff. To find out further route information visit their websites. Train The two nearest train stations to the office are: Cardiff Bay which is 0.1 miles from the office and Cardiff Central train station which is 1.1 miles. It takes approximately 3 minutes to walk between Cardiff Bay train station and our office; the walking route is shown below: Cardiff Bay train station has various facilities including a shelter with seating and a ticket machine. It is well lit and overlooked by CCTV. 4 There is a live travel information display board. It also has cycle parking. The train from Cardiff Bay travels to Cardiff Queen Street Station only. Trains on local routes depart regularly from Cardiff Queen Street. To travel to other locations, you will need to get a connection from Cardiff Queen Street to Cardiff Central train station (connections run from platforms 2 & 3). It takes approximately 20-30 minutes to walk between Cardiff Central train station and our office; the walking route is shown below: Cardiff Central train station is sheltered and has seating both on the platforms and in waiting rooms as well as a cafés and shops in the entrance. It is clean, secure and well lit and platforms are overlooked by CCTV. It has live travel information. It has cycle parking and a ticket office. Aquabus The Aquabus provides a waterbus service between Mermaid Quay in Cardiff Bay (about ten minutes’ walk from our office) and Cardiff Castle in the city centre via Penarth. The Aquabus runs from the Castle grounds to Mermaid Quay every hour on the hour, 11.00am to 5.00pm and from Mermaid Quay to the city centre at half past the hour, 10.30am to 4.30pm. Further details, including a timetable, of the service can be found on the Aquabus website. 5 Park and Ride Park and Ride services run on weekdays and weekends in Cardiff throughout the year. Park and Ride is simple to use and a convenient way of getting into the city centre. The cost is just £3 per car (which includes bus travel) - significantly less than many multi-storey car parks. There are two Park and Ride schemes that operate Monday – Friday and which take you in to the centre of Cardiff: the Cardiff West Park and Ride and the Cardiff East Park and Ride. From these locations it is then possible to get a bus to Cardiff Bay. Cardiff West Park and Ride Location: Cardiff City Stadium, CF11 8EG Cost: £3.50 per vehicle Bus operating hours: Mon-Fri: 9:45am-6pm (8pm Thurs only) Bus stops: Canal Street low floor buses for easy access operating every 15 minutes journey around 10 minutes to city centre From junction 33 of the M4 take the A4232 for the city centre and follow the Park and Ride signs. This service is operated by Cardiff City Stadium, for further information please call 0845 365 1115. 6 Cardiff East Park and Ride Operated by Cardiff Bus Location: Pentwyn Interchange - A48 (Eastern Avenue) sat nav ref: CF23 8HH Cost: £3 (£2 before 8:30am) per vehicle Bus operating Mon to Friday – First bus from car park 07:17, last hours: bus from city centre 19:30 Bus stops: Churchill Way low floor buses for easy access operating every 15 minutes journey around 20 minutes to city centre attendant-controlled car park with CCTV coverage How to find the park and ride: From the East, come off at junction 29 of the M4, take second exit and follow signs for Park and Ride car park. From the West, come off at junction 30 of the M4, take third exit on the first roundabout and then the second exit on the next. At the next 7 roundabout take the second exit on to the A48 heading towards the city centre. Take the first exit on the A48 and follow signs to the car park. 8 Highway access The highways used to access the office are Mount Stuart Square, James Street and West Bute Street, as illustrated below: There is quite heavy traffic flow on James Street but only becomes congested during peak commuting times. Mount Stuart Square does not generally become congested as it has a one way system and is a mixture of residential and offices with parking. There are pedestrian crossings on both James Street and West Bute Street which means they are easy and safe to cross. Cycling It is possible to utilise designated cycle routes to travel to our office. Sustrans offer a route mapping tool here: http://www.sustrans.org.uk/ncn/map?gclid=CObUl4vphsICFRMatAod0 DsAjA 9 Car parking arrangements There is parking available outside the building (as illustrated below) which is operated by Cardiff Council and for which you require a parking ticket. Further details about parking can be found on the Council’s website here. Mon - Fri 0800 - 1800hrs - maximum stay 5 hours, no return within 2 hours. There is no charge for the first hour, but a ticket must still be obtained from the machine and displayed in your vehicle. Hours Tariff (£) 1 Free 2 1.90 3 3.10 4 3.70 5 4.60 1800 - 0800 hrs Free 10 .