“There are residents of all ages in the rural ward of Llanfihangel Aberbythych, as in other wards county wide who, in the face of spiralling costs, will struggle to fund the running of private transport. Given these circumstances, the need to travel for work purposes, for medical appointments, and to access education and training, will the cabinet member responsible for transport please comment on exploring the utilisation of a bwcabus service - delivered by existing businesses - to plug the gap where the current provision is at best limited?”
Minutes:
[Note: Councillor S. Davies having earlier declared an interest in this item, reiterated her declaration remained in the meeting.]
“There are residents of all ages in the rural ward of Llanfihangel Aberbythych, as in other wards county wide who, in the face of spiralling costs, will struggle to fund the running of private transport. Given these circumstances, the need to travel for work purposes, for medical appointments, and to access education and training, will the cabinet member responsible for transport please comment on exploring the utilisation of a bwcabus service - delivered by existing businesses - to plug the gap where the current provision is at best limited?”
Response by Councillor Edward Thomas – Cabinet Member for Cabinet Member for Transport, Waste and Infrastructure Services:-
Thank you for the question. The cost of living crises is affecting us all and indeed the Council. News stories of the weekend highlight the scale of the financial challenge facing Councils across the Country and we have heard further today about the pressures on the Authority.
Bus services across the County are facing the same challenges as energy and fuel costs increase. The sector is also experiencing a shortage or drivers and engineers. All adding to cost pressures in the sector at a time when we are facing budget restrictions. Currently, your ward is serviced by several routes to 276, 278, 279 and 284 local services unfortunately only run once a week the 280 which runs from Monday to Saturday and then the X14 Builth Wells to Carmarthen Services also covers your area but only on a Friday.
The Council has developed the Bwcabus services in areas of the County, but like all services investments is required to sustain the services. The Council is currently working with regional partners, the Welsh Government and Transport for Wales on the future plans for bus services as part of the South West Wales Metro. We are also working with community transport sectors to explore opportunities for the development of community transport in hard to reach areas of the County.
I will continue to press for government investment in rural areas to sustain connectivity and access to services for all our communities. Thank you.
Supplementary Question by Councillor Hefin Jones.
Thank you Councillor Thomas for the response. Given that you mention that the continued efforts to improve connectivity we need to be aware that 16-20 year olds 40% of them according to Welsh Governments own survey states that the public transport is the stumbling block for them to access further training. Councillor Thomas rightly outlined the difficulties around labour availability and increased costs. Acutely aware of the additional funding that was offered to keep busses on the road during Covid, my question would be is it now time that we take prudence into consideration and instead of seeing empty busses often running around the County. Mr Lee Waters MS has spoken at length about sustainability drive in the transport sector, can we ask then what is the state of dialogue between this Authority and the Deputy Minister for Climate Change, Mr Waters MS and his team for us to press ahead with this agenda. Thank you.
Response by Councillor Edward Thomas – Cabinet Member for Cabinet Member for Transport, Waste and Infrastructure Services:-
I can assure Cllr Jones that we are in dialogue with him, in fact the Leader Councillor Price and I have a meeting scheduled with Mr Lee Waters, Deputy Minister on 28th November where a lot of these matters will be raised and we will try and keep this Council in the loop. The Council is working on the sustainability of the Bwcabus and the flexi model service provision, existing services has received European funding to make it possible and discussions on future investments and developments are live. I would reiterate that the public and community requires investment from the Welsh Government as part of a balanced transport system. The private car is the often the dominant mode of travel especially for those living in the rural areas.
The provision of transport is complex and of course it’s a derived demand and often people will want to travel at the peak hours and as you quite rightly said buses are empty during the rest of the day. In the quieter off peak, we encourage people to use services which are available when the Bwcabus and flexible services over the more conventional services. The development of the metro for the whole of South and West Wales will be vital in support in the recovery of accessibility and connectivity across the region if the Welsh government is to achieve its ambitions target of model shift to more sustainable forms of transport. We will continue to press the case for investment within the County.