3. Statement by the Deputy Minister for Economy and Transport: The Welsh Government Response to the South East Wales Transport Commission’s Final Recommendations

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:49 pm on 19 January 2021.

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Photo of Lee Waters Lee Waters Labour 3:49, 19 January 2021

Thank you very much. I can just reassure David Rowlands that there is no ambivalence in using the term 'accept in principle'; it's simply the fact that this is a 10-year vision and the detail of some of this may need to flex as the practicalities are explored as we go along, and not least there are statutory processes to go through, which the Welsh Government has a role in, and the lawyers need me to be careful in what I say. But I can assure you that our support is strong and significant for the vision set out, and we are committed to working through the detail, to put it into practice and to add to it as much as we can. And certainly, as I say, 'Llwybr Newydd: a new Wales transport strategy' has taken this vision and scaled it for the whole of Wales, so we certainly hope—. And certainly the question he raises about the affordability of bus use, that is a key question for achieving modal shift, for persuading people to leave their cars behind for everyday journeys and to use sustainable forms of transport, because, clearly, affordability is one of those measures. So, if we're not going to make a public transport system attractive—and there are many ways that you make it attractive, and that's certainly one of them—then the vision of this will not be achieved, that's for sure.

In terms of bus measures, I agree with him; I've already said that I see one of the first measures we take to be around bus prioritisation. Transport for Wales has been doing a series of modelling work, looking at where, for example, bus passengers lose the most time in the morning. I've had an interesting presentation from their modellers that shows quite clearly that there are three different bottlenecks for the buses in Newport in the morning, where bus passengers are sitting waiting because they're stuck in traffic, and I think an early priority would be to look at each of those three and to see how we can create some priority measures to allow buses to move freely, to encourage people to jump on the bus instead of jumping in a car.

So, that is a systematic piece of work that we are beginning with the delivery of it within TfW, and work has already started on that, but as I say, that does need the council working with us, being willing to make local decisions to make these changes possible in practice. I certainly think that, as ever, setting out the vision for these things is the easy bit; delivering it at pace, funding it, taking people with you is the hard bit. And I'm not underestimating the challenge ahead of us in taking this through, not least given the challenges that I've already outlined that we've had in the area, but it's absolutely doable and the prize is there for all to see. Given the challenges we all face in tackling climate change and in regenerating the local economy in the face of this recession, then this is a priority where there's an imperative for us all to get a move on.