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Question 1 –
how would you
describe the current condition of the bus and community transport
sectors in Wales?
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I am more familiar with the bus sector than the community transport
sector so will confine my comments to the former.
The current condition of the bus sector appears to be actually
quite good, particularly in my area of Swansea Bay where the
principal operators have invested in new vehicles and some improved
services. However, supported services continue to show a decline
with service withdrawals and frequency reductions continuing; also,
some ‘commercial’ services have had damaging cutbacks
in frequency which will impact negatively on passenger numbers
– AGAIN!
A major area of concern is provision of evening and Sunday services
which in some areas are almost non-existent. In my business of
promoting buses to visitors to the area, the loss of Sunday
services is particularly serious and if continued, could impact
adversely on the numbers of visitors to Wales
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Question 2 –
why do you think
the number of bus services and the number of bus passengers is
declining in Wales?
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It is mainly down to funding or at least the continuing reductions
in funding. The bus industry has suffered disproportionately in the
expenditure cuts. As well as the (to be) expected cutbacks in
transport grant, buses have suffered in the heavy reductions in
BSOG which has put operators at a disadvantage with the car as
their costs have risen due to factors outside their control (and
consequently fares have had to rise). The reduction in
reimbursement for Cerdyn Cymru has again impacted severely on
operators’ costs rendering more services uneconomic and
therefore withdrawn. In that scenario, if concessionary pass
holders can’t travel (no service) then passenger numbers
decline.
In the Swansea Bay area, I would put some of the decline at the
door of the principal operator First Cymru for poor service
provision/quality until recently (happily that charge will no
longer stick as service has transformed since 2013)
My biggest criticism is that Welsh Government doesn’t appear
to appreciate how important buses are and their negative attitudes
towards private sector operators simply reinforces that view. The
decline in bus passengers has consequences for decline in high
street footfall and consequently expenditure.
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Question 3 –
what do you think is the social, economic and environmental impact
of recent changes in bus and community transport service
levels?
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Social – people without their own personal transport cannot
get out and about as much as they would like. Older people are
excluded from mainstream life when their only means of transport
disappears. Young people unable to afford personal transport have
been restricted in their ability to seek work
Economic – as stated above, the bus is a major contributor to
the health of town and city centres as shopping and leisure
destinations, so reductions in service have had an adverse impact
on the economic health of the area
Employers have had a smaller area from which to draw potential
labour as buses have been cut back altogether or restricted early
and late in the day (a lot of low earning employment is in the
evenings)
With increasing numbers of overseas visitors coming to Wales
without a car, buses and trains are of increasing importance to the
visitor economy
Environmental – the Welsh Assembly has a statutory obligation
to pursue green policies. Public transport is reckoned to be a
greener form of travel than cars yet their fuel duty rebate gets
cut by over 20% whilst petrol gets cheaper in real
terms.
Whilst England and Scotland continue to provide substantial
capital grants for purchase of low emission buses, Wales has done
and continues to do nothing of this kind. Such grants reduce
operators costs leading to stable or lower fares which encourage
more travellers and fewer car miles!!
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Question 4 –
what do you think
the Welsh Government should do to support bus and community
transport in Wales?
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1.
Get a fair settlement for Cerdyn Cymru so that bus operators can
afford to reinstate services; if this involves a small charge to
pass holders, so be it
2.
Restore fuel duty rebates to again encourage cheaper operation
leading to more services leading to more passengers
3.
Make capital grants available to bus operators to achieve more
environmentally sustainable transport and reduced
emissions
4.
Encourage and promote greater cooperation between operators and
public transport modes in the interests of more seamless travel for
the public transport user
5.
Ring fence grants to local authorities to be used on public
transport and not raided for other purposes
6.
Only seek fundamental change to current arrangements (e.g.
re-regulation, franchising) from evidence based research rather
than political motivation. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix
it!
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Question 5
– what do you think Welsh local authorities should do to
support bus and community transport services?
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First and foremost, they need more money. In some cases, there is
insufficient funding to support buses at all, leaving provision
solely to profitable routes which would leave many marginal
communities isolated.
They need to better appreciate the value of local buses to the
economic health of their high streets
Local members need to talk up and support buses rather than
branding the companies purely interested in profits for
shareholders
Active measures to make buses operation more fluid and reliable by
positive traffic light control, bus lanes and better enforcement of
illegal parking
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Question 6
– what do you think about proposals to devolve bus
registration powers to Wales? How should these be used?
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Insofar as the current situation is far from ideal, I would favour
devolvement of powers provided that the WG uses these new powers in
a way which will improve service for customers. Experience in other
European countries where, by and large, buses are regulated,
services in large conurbations with heavy travel volumes, monopoly
suppliers can be seen to thrive though the lack of focus on
marketing is noticeable. My experience is of resource- rather than
market- driven bus networks and a much higher cost/income ratio
than is evident in the UK. I therefore urge caution in making major
structural changes that could increase costs at a time when funding
is constantly tightening.
Use evidence based research to inform your decisions!
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Question 7
– please tell us whether you think further powers to regulate
the bus industry in Wales are required and why?
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I think further powers are required to allow Wales to choose
transport services more appropriate to its needs. However, I would
not support these being used to create stifling regulation for some
of the reasons outlined above.
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Question 8
– what other
action can be taken to ensure that bus and community transport
services meet the needs of people in Wales?
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Ask the passengers what they want
Ask non-users what would persuade them to change
Draw on the experience of seasoned public transport operators, who,
contrary to public perception, know their business pretty
well
Fund to a level that can achieve the principal aspirations of
customers and end users
Partnership with operators to ensure good public service and a
decent living for operators
Encourage more co-operation and co-ordination between trains and
buses
Extend the Traws Cymru concept to more bus routes that complement
train services
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Please tell us anything
else you would like to mention this topic, thank you for
contributing to our inquiry.
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Just to reinforce: move forward on the basis of evidence rather
than prejudice
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