Questions Without Notice from Party Spokespeople

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Climate Change – in the Senedd at 1:50 pm on 11 January 2023.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Julie James Julie James Labour 1:50, 11 January 2023

Delyth, that's something very close to my heart, and I will say I'm one of them. I've done that myself; I've put my coat around my hair, put a hat on, and tried to make myself as inconspicuous as possible, because I've been travelling alone at night on public transport and it hasn't felt safe. There are several things to say about that. First of all, I hosted a Women in Transport event just before Christmas in the Senedd, where we trying to highlight the role of women in transport—working in the transport sector, but also actually users of transport—about what changes we want to see. I would encourage everyone here to join up to the hub there, and start to try and influence it. The second thing is, of course, to make sure that with our unions we have the right level of staffing on our stations and so on, or the right level of lighting, or the right level of emergency provision. And the third thing is to make sure that our public transport is better populated, because, frankly, if you're on a well-used service, then you don't feel like that; it tends to be when you're isolated, alone in something that doesn't feel like there's anyone else around you.

I think there are a range of things that we can do that we're already doing with Transport for Wales around the way that our stations work, the way that our bus service works, the way that we have staffing on the stations, but I would encourage you very much to get involved in the Women in Transport hub. It is a really useful resource, where we can start to put that gender lens on many of the services we use. I really think it's a very important point about how different sectors of society experience different things. What we really want is a public service that welcomes everyone, and makes everyone feel safe. We could have a similar conversation about people with disabilities or other things as well. So, there is a plan in place, but I particularly want to recommend to you the Women in Transport hub, which I was very pleased to be launching in the Senedd just before Christmas.