As a member of the Economy, Infrastructure and Skills Committee, it was a pleasure to take part in this inquiry and also in the ensuing report. I too would like to thank all those who took the time to contribute to our inquiry. Clearly, the bus is the most well-used of all our public transport services, but also is the most inclusive form of public transport as well. It’s the only form of public transport that can reach into all of our communities, whether urban or rural, and particularly into the northernmost reaches of the south Wales Valleys where, even when the metro arrives, the bus service provision will be a key part of that delivery. So, it is really important that we can tackle bus congestion and get the offer right.

Yesterday, Cabinet Secretary, you updated Members on concessionary bus travel and you told us that a key Welsh Government aim is:

to increase the number of people of all ages using buses for their daily commute to work, for education, for access to health services and for leisure purposes’.

So, to do this, it is crucial that we tackle congestion, due, crucially, to its intrinsically cyclical nature: bus congestion puts people off travelling by bus, leads them back into their car; this, then, causes more congestion, which, in turn makes buses slower, and the problem, again, worsens.

Figures quoted in the committee’s report scope out something of the shape of the challenge ahead. The number of local bus services has declined by nearly half in the 10 years leading up to 2015. The number of passenger journeys has also declined, but, despite this, as I said at the start, the bus remains the most crucial and well-used form of public transport. In 2015-16, there were over 100 million bus passenger journeys, and that’s around five times the comparable number of train journeys. In the 20 years prior to 2015, bus journeys have slowed by an average of two miles an hour: a 13 per cent decrease in speed requiring additional capacity just to maintain the service. This is one clear symptom of the impact of congestion.

More generally, congestion has a negative effect on the environment and on the health enjoyed by our communities too. I’m sure that Members will have seen the briefing provided by the British Lung Foundation, with some stark figures to back that up. One thousand three hundred early deaths per year in Wales can be linked to air pollution. Children, in particular, exposed to severe air pollution are five times more likely to have poor lung development and increased infection susceptibility.

It also impacts on our economy, and we cannot ignore the social justice dimension either. Just under half of all bus journeys last year were concessionary fares—an increasing proportion in contrast with the general pattern of decline of usage. For those households lacking a car, buses are indeed a lifeline. In my own local authority area of Rhondda Cynon Taf, we have the fifth highest number of households without access to cars—a little over 27 per cent. Many of those people would be living in communities that are not accessible by the train. Therefore, the bus truly is a lifeline. With the highest numbers of households without access to cars also being found in Merthyr Tydfil and Blaenau Gwent, this is clearly a key issue for the south Wales Valleys. As we heard from witnesses at an evidence session of the economy committee, a combination of the topography and urban design found in the Valleys can exacerbate congestion. To quote a witness from RCT council, talking about the terraces found in the Valleys:

The streets are very narrow. There’s no space…for residents to park their cars, so there’s on-street parking.’

This can cause serious congestion on bus routes. Indeed, it’s a familiar problem in my own constituency, and I think about the terraced thoroughfares of Cwmaman, Penrhiwceiber and Ynysybwl.

Work can be undertaken to tackle pinch points, such as the much-needed remedial works currently ongoing on the A4059 at Cwmbach and Mountain Ash. I also note in the Cabinet Secretary’s response to our consideration his comments that only one highway authority had applied for and adopted the full discretionary powers available to them from Welsh Government to help tackle traffic congestion. I would ask: how else will the Cabinet Secretary encourage highway authorities to use this opportunity to seek local solutions to local problems?

Consideration 8 is also really important. We need to promote our bus network as a convenient, affordable, and, above all, reliable option for journeys. I was really impressed with the standard of the Stagecoach bus service, their new gold service, and, equally, things like TrawsCymru show what can be done with a comfortable mode of transport that promotes facilities like Wi-Fi. Again, key to this is ensuring we tackle congestion so buses really are a first choice and not a last resort.