Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:20 pm on 28 February 2017.
Can I add my voice to those who’ve congratulated the Cabinet Secretary on the bus summit, which, if I may say, demonstrated a great deal of foresight? And he’s gone beyond foresight to a predictive capacity today in his answers to Russell George. But I recently held a forum in Neath, before Christmas, to discuss the local economy, and one of the priorities that was discussed by the participants was the need for a better-integrated public transport system, so I welcome a number of the comments he’s made in this statement today.
Julie Morgan asked a number of the questions I was proposing to ask, but there are two outstanding questions that I’ll put to the Cabinet Secretary. Firstly is the question of bus priority technology, in terms of traffic lights and so on. What assessment has he made of what capacity there is for expanding that, which I think is pretty central to the passenger experience? The second point is this: in terms of integration and so on, does he foresee, perhaps in the longer term, an enhanced role for a body like Transport for Wales, which, as well as looking at the rail franchises, could also perhaps consider some of the strategic issues that face the bus service and, in particular, in the context of seeking an integrated transport system as is his objective?