Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:09 pm on 8 October 2019.
The Member is absolutely right: nobody will lose their pass as a result of the renewal programme—nobody at all. Can I thank Rhianon Passmore for also raising a very important point that I've made, that free travel, in and of its own, does not entice people to shift from the private vehicle onto a bus? However, with other reforms that we have contained within the buses Bill, we are confident that we'll be able to deliver a significant modal shift. We'll do that through prioritising resource into infrastructure that leads to reliable and shorter journey times into green buses—and the Member makes a very important point about the contribution that travelling by bus can have in terms of reducing carbon emissions. We're going to be investing in fleets of zero-carbon buses, removing dirty diesel engines from our roads, from the bus fleet. And also, we'll be introducing quality partnerships that will drive up the standards of vehicles that people can expect to use.