5. 5. Statement: The Future of Local Bus Services

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:21 pm on 28 February 2017.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Ken Skates Ken Skates Labour 4:21, 28 February 2017

Can I thank Jeremy Miles for his contribution and for his question? It is true that Transport for Wales could well manage a fully integrated transport system. It may well be that he’s been reading my mind, because that is exactly what I’ve been considering over the course of the past few months. Thanks also to Jeremy Miles for hosting what I believe was a very successful forum in Neath. I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to attend on that particular occasion, but the feedback that I have had from the forum aligned with the responses that were made as a consequence of the bus summit questionnaire, which was that we need to work more closely together than we have done. The fact is that that was the first bus summit to have been held, but we need to work more closely than we have done in order to understand what the collective challenges are, what the mutual challenges are, that we can overcome together. There will be, I am in no doubt, some difficult areas of discussion for some parties as we move through into next week with some of the proposals that we wish to bring forward in terms of, as I’ve said, radically reforming the way that bus services operate. But, at the end of the day, we need to put passengers first. We will do so through working with those organisations that represent passengers and also with the industry and local government. But it will be the passenger’s interest that takes priority at every stage of our deliberations.

In terms of traffic lights, this is a very interesting piece of work that I believe could be taken forward on a pilot basis, in particular, in one of the city regions, in particular as we look to embrace smart cities as a new way of living more effectively and efficiently and within our means, both in terms of natural resources and finance. I do think that the utilisation of smart traffic lights and dedicated bus lanes could be of incredible value.