7. 6. Statement: The Future of Bus Services in Wales

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:43 pm on 18 October 2016.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Ken Skates Ken Skates Labour 5:43, 18 October 2016

Can I thank the Member for his kind words and questions? In the fourth Assembly I recall, when I was on the back benches and a member of the enterprise committee, the question of integrated ticketing and integrated travel occupied a considerable amount of our time. I know that it created a good degree of frustration amongst Members. Much of that frustration still exists, but we are now at the point in time where there is an enormous opportunity, both in terms of bus services and rail, to integrate them more fully through the new Wales and borders franchise and, of course, the provisions contained within the Wales Bill. I would hope, between those two processes, alongside the encouragement and development of more integrated ticketing that, in turn, can drive bus operators to act in a more integrated way, insofar as timetables are concerned, that by the end of this Assembly that degree of frustration that backbench Members expressed previously will not be there.