Transport User Voice – July 2022 – Wales bus event roundup

29 June 2022

A spotlight on Government’s plans

There’s been a lot of discussion lately around the bus network in Wales.  

On 9 June, we held a ‘Buses in Wales’ webinar where Deputy Minister for Climate Change, Lee Waters MS, gave a keynote speech outlining his vision for buses in Wales.   

This was a result of Welsh Government’s announcement on the long-anticipated Bus White Paper for Wales ‘One network, one timetable, one ticket’.  

Proposals are in place for public transport bus services to plan and grow the bus network. A public consultation on the plans ran until 24 June. 

During the consultation period, we thought it would be a good idea to get stakeholders around the table to discuss the plans in more detail. We also wanted to encourage as many people as possible to respond to the consultation and make sure their voices were heard.  

At our ‘Buses in Wales’ session, we presented our own insight, stressing that passenger priorities must influence proposals. These include maintaining bus cleanliness, buses being on time and buses running more often.  

We looked at some of the key barriers to bus use that would need to be addressed and outlined the need for setting clear standards, robust measurement of performance, and independent representation of passengers. 

The session included key speakers from the Welsh transport world:  

• Transport for Wales talked about the Snowdonia bus network and how it’s been working with local authorities to improve the network.  
• The Confederation of Passenger Transport Cymru discussed challenges in the industry including funding, car ownership and the decline of town centres as well as declining bus use.  
• Wales Community Transport Association provided examples of some accessibility issues from real case studies. 
• Bus Users Cymru, talked about the real issues passengers experience on the network. It also talked about challenges such as tackling driver shortages, meeting the needs of the digitally excluded, and tackling congestion. 

The audience was invited to submit questions to the panel stimulating some lively discussion. At the end of the session, stakeholders were encouraged to have their say and respond to the consultation.  

Feedback about the event has been extremely positive. We look forward to working alongside Welsh Government and our stakeholders as plans for buses in Wales progress. 

You can view the speakers’ slides  here.
You can watch the full webinar here.
You can see our consultation response here. 

 

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