Diolch, Llywydd. On 19 March, I was proud to publish the Welsh Government's new Wales transport strategy. It sets what we consider to be a bold new vision for transport in Wales over the next two decades. And the context for the document is very clear: we are in the midst of a climate crisis, and it is time—indeed, it is urgent—that we turn the broad consensus that now exists for action to address it into practical and radical measures for change, and this is exactly what the document sets out to do. 

The document is called 'llwybr newydd', which means 'new path', because we have to take a new and different path to not only reduce the carbon footprint of transport in Wales, which represents some 17 per cent of our total emissions, but in doing so create a high-quality, reliable and affordable transport system that can support prosperity and equality. This is why our new strategy has modal shift at its heart. It sets out to tackle the deeply-rooted car dependency that sits at the centre of so much of modern life by encouraging fewer car journeys and by supporting the infrastructure and changes needed to encourage a much greater share of trips by sustainable forms of transport.

The strategy focuses on three simple priorities: firstly, to reduce the need to travel; secondly, to allow people and goods to move more easily from door to door by sustainable forms of transport; and, thirdly, to encourage people to make the change to more sustainable transport. The challenge of any new strategy is translating ideas into action—change that people can see and change that people can benefit from. This is why we are including clear and stretching targets for increasing the number of journeys made by bus, rail and, for local journeys, active travel. For the first time, we will increase the share of journeys made from these sustainable forms from 32 per cent today to 45 per cent by 2040, and we will go further and faster where we can, reviewing and extending these targets as we go in order to support our journey to the 2050 net-zero climate targets that we have set.

We've already begun work on the £750 million electrification of the Valleys lines that will be the foundation of the south Wales metro, we have brought our Wales and borders rail network back into public ownership, and we are taking greater control over planning our vital bus network, with new legislation being prepared for the next Government to consider. And perhaps the thing I'm most proud of: we are investing in high-quality active travel infrastructure—£75 million has been allocated in next year's Welsh Government budget, up from the £5 million that was in place at the start of this Senedd term.

Now, this strategy would have been vital before the pandemic. But COVID-19 has increased the urgency for change. For, as well as the sadness and disruption coronavirus has brought, it has significantly accelerated many of the enormous changes impacting on our society and our economy: digital change, the reshaping of town centres, as well as the very nature of work itself, will look very different coming out of this pandemic. As Members will have seen, this new strategy aims to stand alongside our new 'Future Wales' development framework, and initiatives such as our transforming towns work, in supporting the recovery and reshaping our economy after COVID.

It also complements the new ambition we have set as a Welsh Government for 30 per cent of people across Wales to work remotely. Indeed, the entire strategy is very much framed in the context of supporting other Ministers across Government and the wider partners in helping us all to use transport as an enabler of our wider, shared priorities.

As Members will see from the strategy, the other golden thread running through it is fairness. Twenty-five per cent of people in Wales do not own a car, and we have a duty to build a high-quality, affordable and reliable public transport system to support every community in Wales. Indeed, a high-quality transport system can and should be an important tool in helping support poverty reduction and regeneration in many communities in Wales hit hard by 40 years of deindustrialisation, and this we intend it to be.

This marks a significant shift in transport policy in Wales, Llywydd, one that recognises that business as usual will not do if we are to reduce transport emissions, accelerate modal shift and meet our ambitious climate change targets, which we have all committed to. That means changing the way we make investment decisions across Government. At the heart of our new approach is the new sustainable transport hierarchy, which sets out a new ordering of investment priorities for transport in Wales.

There will clearly need to be new thinking in the context of this new strategy and that new hierarchy. It is not going to be consistent to return to a predict-and-provide model of road construction as a first solution to congestion. Indeed, I think the recent Burns commission work shows that, with thought, collaboration and will, there is a way to construct an alternative, joined-up solution. But, equally, a blanket policy of simply not building new roads isn't a solution either. There will be a case for new construction in certain circumstances and there will be a clear need to fulfil our existing statutory duty to maintain the existing road network.

All of that means we need a new and intelligent framework through which to consider in what circumstances new infrastructure, including roads, is taken forward across Wales in the context of our targets, the new strategy and our new hierarchy. And I've asked officials to begin work developing that new framework and a set of metrics that can underpin new infrastructure decisions in the future. We will ask the Welsh Local Government Association and the future generations commissioner to work with us as part of this—and I believe the committees of the next Senedd must play an important part in shaping this work as well—to develop a consensus on how these new metrics can be used to achieve the target we've all committed to of net zero by 2050.

Llywydd, 'Llwybr Newydd' is a new path. Delivering on our vision will be challenging, but it'll be worth it, and I am proud to have played a part. Diolch.