Minutes:
The Chair warmly welcomed Simon Jones, Director, Economic Infrastructure, Welsh Government, to the meeting to discuss proposed changes to bus industry funding in Wales. The changes will enable taxpayers to have greater control over services.
For scheduled services, the concessionary fare scheme costs approximately £70m to run in Wales per year and also grants/funding (from Welsh Government and local authorities) are made available to bus operators. In total, approximately £115m supports the bus industry per annum (not including home to school transport). This year, due to COVID 19, the amount of funding to the bus industry will be closer to £200m to cover e.g. the reduced capacity offered due to social distancing requirements.
Problems have been encountered trying to introduce a single, common ticket but there is ambition to have an integrated ticket for passengers to use more freely on bus and rail journeys independent of operator aligned services, timetables and fares.
In the context of climate change, more journeys are made by private car in Wales than in the rest of the UK. This is partly due to the inadequacies of the transport network. The aim is to make public transport an attractive option to help address climate change e.g. congestion and air quality. The presentation slides were shared with Group Members by e mail.
Group Members were invited to ask questions:
· A Group Member was concerned about legislation, noting past failures to align bus and train services, and referred to the disconnected timetables that discourage bus passengers from using the trains. It was commented that without primary legislation, bus companies may not comply with integration. It was explained that commercial negotiations are in progress regarding funding. This will involve agreement to enter into a long term partnership where Welsh Government can have influence. Those operators choosing not to work together risk access to the funding. In response to a question, it was accepted that there may be a need to legislate.
· A Group Member asked how engagement with bus customers is planned stating the need for more promotion and marketing of bus services. This aspect will be undertaken by Transport for Wales (TfW). Discussions are in progress to see if local authorities are interested in part-ownership of TfW. There is an ambition to have a national TfW brand to cover bus services in Wales.
· A Group Member highlighted the need to keep Climate Change at the top of the transport agenda. It was confirmed that Climate Change is central to Welsh Government’s thinking. It is a priority to make bus travel an attractive option to customers’ using private cars. This may require significant changes such as making less space available for cars on roads and more for buses, priority signalling for buses etc.
· A Group Member explained the difficulties linking train and bus journeys. It was agreed that there is a lot of work needed to improve and create transport hubs, to also include Active Travel. In terms of Chepstow services from Gloucester to Cardiff. These have been reduced to less than one train per hour. More services are needed.
· A Group Member asked about timescales and it was explained that the Bus Emergency Scheme (BES) is in place currently for which bus operators have had to sign up to changes. More significant change will take place at the end of October. Funding under BES may have to continue as social distancing is disrupting services from being commercial. It is difficult to predict timescales during the pandemic . The new contract is for 12 months.
· A Group Member queried previous plans for a train/bus transport interchange at Chepstow. It was responded that such changes are needed throughout Wales and Welsh Government’s aspiration is to have the ability to exert some control over operators (bus stops, timetables etc.) and would be part of building the case for physical investment such as in required Chepstow.
· A Group Member queried if the survey mentioned was for urban bus routes and rural areas referring to the importance of connecting communities. Friends of the 65 Bus offered to co-operate with Welsh Government to share their experience. It was responded that the survey was from across Wales using traffic models to measure where people and goods travel to and from. The “Flexi” demand responsive service was explained. Some rural trials are taking place. It was suggested that regular service users are elderly and unused to technological solutions. Additionally mobile signal can also be poor in rural areas so this is possibly not a workable model. It was added that the Grass Routes community on demand service is available in Monmouthshire. This is bookable via telephone.
· Members mentioned the ongoing campaign to create Magor Walkway Station which “ticks all the boxes” in terms of linking with bus services, reducing car use, active travel options etc. It was questioned why Welsh Government is not interested in taking the option forward. It was welcomed that Magor Station has recently been published as a Welsh Government aspiration in terms of ambitions for rail services in North and South Wales. It was added that other than the Valley Lines, the rest of Wales train services are owned by the Department for Transport funded by UK Government. Conversation is ongoing with UK Government about the lack of investment in the rail system in Wales generally.
· The Active Travel Officer asked if the ambition is to include bike racks on bus services. Discussions have included bike racks on Traws Cymru services and the suggestion of all services requires further thought taking into account e.g. space elements. It was suggested that the racks could be on the back or front of the vehicles. There is also a need to include more plans for bike racks on trains.
The Chair sincerely thanked Simon Jones for joining the meeting and participating in today’s meeting.