U-Link Bus Service

The U-​Link buses are run by the University of the West of England, and are primarily used by the students to get to and from university and the centre of Bristol. However, the buses have now been made public. In 2009 they introduced a new swipe card system in which you can top up your card and benefit from cheaper fares, with an unlimited day use called a ‘day rider’ costing £3 in cash or £2.50 using the swipe card. This is much cheaper than the First Buses which cost £3.30 for a student day pass.
The U-​Link has 5 bus routes. The U1 and U2 run from Victoria Street in the centre of Bristol, through Gloucester Road and Filton to Frenchay Campus. The U3 runs from Victoria Street through Fishponds to St Matthias Campus and Glenside Campus and terminating at Frenchay. The U4 is a direct service from the centre of Bristol to Frenchay going on the M32 giving a very short journey. Finally a U5 service was introduced recently which runs from Frenchay to Filton, then to Clifton and Whiteladies Road.
The buses are all very new and clean and provide a pleasant service as far as bus journeys go, and they are all very regular. One criticism is that as the day goes on, the service seems to get very unreliable. The timetable has not taken into account traffic congestion at lunch times and at rush hour, and at around about 4pm you will start to wait upwards of 10 minutes.