Part of 1. 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Infrastructure – in the Senedd at 2:01 pm on 11 October 2017.
Well, there are three things that need to be done: (1) we need to make sure that interchanges are planned in the right way, and already we are committing work in certain areas of Wales that will see enhanced interchanges. For example, I announced recently work that is afoot in Llanwern. In Wrexham and in Deeside, and right across the metro Valleys regions, we’re looking at where interchanges can offer seamless travel between one mode of transport and another. But the other work that needs to be done concerns integrated ticketing, and through-ticketing. That can be achieved through Transport for Wales leading on the procurement of the next franchise and potentially taking on more functions in the future. The third area of work that needs to be addressed concerns the schedules of bus and rail operators, making sure that you don’t have to wait around for too long before you move from one mode of transport to the next.
Now, I do think that, in the City and County of Swansea, a good degree of work is already being undertaken with regard to integrated transport. We provided £1.1 million for the Morfa distributor road, £453,000 for the business case work for infrastructure enhancements along Fabian Way, £115,000, as I know the Member has warmly welcomed, to develop the outline concept for the south-west Wales metro, and, of course, £65,000 for the Kingsbridge link scheme. This is in addition to the considerable funding that we’ve made available through the local transport network fund, which aims to ensure that there are better integrated and better quality public transport services in Swansea and in the wider region.