4. What plans does the Cabinet Secretary have to reduce congestion in town centres? OAQ(5)0115(EI)

Our national transport finance plan sets out the interventions we are taking to tackle congestion and provide sustainable alternatives to car use.

I thank the Cabinet Secretary for the response. Does the Cabinet Secretary agree that it’s very good news that Cardiff council has recently launched a plan to get commuters to walk or cycle? This scheme has been designed with help from Copenhagen and experts there who’ve developed a very successful cycling strategy there. The target is to get commuters in the city out of their cars by 2021—and 60 per cent by 2026. Does the Cabinet Secretary welcome this initiative from Cardiff and think it is very good news for the city?

I do very much welcome this initiative by Cardiff city council. We have some distance to travel before we catch up with some of those Scandinavian countries, but we are on the right path. The key to success is in changing people’s behaviour and cultures. For that reason, I’m particularly pleased that we are investing in the Active Journeys initiative, which is operating in primary and secondary schools across Wales. It’s my understanding that, to date, somewhere in the region of 232 schools across the country have been involved in that particular scheme and more than 30 are in Cardiff. The importance of that scheme is that it creates a change in perception and a change in behaviour amongst people at the earlier stage. We know, with recycling and the change in behaviour that’s accompanied recycling, that if you can convince young people to do things differently, they in turn convince adults and parents.

In the next financial year, we’re also going to be making available £2 million for road safety education. The Member will be aware, because it was in Welsh Labour’s manifesto, that we have restated our commitment to improving cycling proficiency, and this fund is designed to do just that.

I also fund, the Member may be aware, the travel plan co-ordinators across Wales, who are tasked with working with employers in their respective areas to encourage staff to use alternative forms of transport, or indeed to walk, where a car is not needed. This is complemented by the Cymru Travel Challenge offer, which aims to encourage commuters, again, to switch from their cars to other forms of transport or to walk for short journeys.

I met with your predecessor, Edwina Hart, last year with regard to Welshpool’s one-way traffic system, along with Welshpool Town Council as well. It was agreed at the time that Welsh Government would undertake some work to assess the options of Brook Street being reverted back from one-way to a two-way traffic system to ease the ongoing issues in the town. I’d be grateful if you could provide me with an update on this.

I’d happily provide the Member with an update. I’m very pleased that we’ve been able to identify additional resource to solve the problems of pinch points across the trunk road network in Wales. But I’m also keen to ensure that, where we can identify solutions to in-town congestion, we implement them at speed. So, I’d be more than happy to take a look at the particular proposal for Welshpool, which, if we can make progress on, I think will complement very much the investment that we’re making in Newtown as well with the bypass there.

I declare an interest because I drive on these roads and I’m a member of Cardiff council. I find it incredible that Julie Morgan is talking about plans to reduce road congestion when she supports Cardiff’s local destruction plan, which would put 10,000 extra cars on the road. So, Cabinet Secretary, maybe you can explain and maybe enlighten the public as to how a local development plan putting at least 10,000 extra cars on the road in the west of the city is going to reduce congestion, because building on the green fields, as you plan to do—are you going to say those people are not going to drive into town? Absolutely incredible.

I don’t think the honourable Member should be so disparaging about colleagues in the Chamber. But the important point to make about Cardiff is that we are rolling out one of the most ambitious programmes, in the form of the metro, for public transport anywhere in western Europe. I think that’s something that should be applauded and it’s something that will hugely contribute to removing cars from our roads. I’m also looking at other innovative ways to support the bus network. The Member may be aware that this week I hosted the bus summit in north Wales—although it was a pan-Wales event; again, I’m keen to decentralise wherever I can—and that looked at how we can create a more sustainable bus network across Wales that encourages people to move from their private cars to buses. We know that there are 101 million passenger journeys taken by bus every year, but that number has fallen in recent times. The number of people that are taking journeys on commercial routes has fallen, whilst at the same time community transport usage has increased. There is, without a shadow of a doubt, the scope to increase the number of people who are using buses, and within intensely urban areas such as Cardiff city centre, I think it’s absolutely essential that we look at how we can encourage more people to use buses.