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The 10 local authorities which form part of the Cardiff city region is set to establish a formal Regional Transport Authority (pdf).
A Regional Transport Authority (RTA) already exists as a sub-committee of the city region’s cabinet but, if agreed, the move will take the current arrangements up a gear.
The previous strategic transport authority in the south-east, SEWTA, was disbanded in 2014 and this could be considered a resurrection of SEWTA to an extent.
The new RTA would oversee several strategic projects including:
- Preparing a Regional Transport Plan and identifying and developing transport schemes.
- Working with the Welsh Government and Transport for Wales on the South Wales Metro.
- Improvements to electric vehicle infrastructure (particularly taxis and buses).
- Developing a regional bus network for the city region (supported by a new regional bus team based within Monmouthshire Council).
- Developing a rail strategy to improve connections to/from other city regions.
- Researching new tax and fiscal levers to fund infrastructure improvements (the recent Newport Transport Commission has raised the possibility of a workplace parking levy, for example).
The RTA is set to consist of two members of the city region’s cabinet (who will Chair and Vice-Chair), as well as the executive member responsible for transport from each of the 10 member local authorities. Decisions would be made via majority vote. Members won’t receive an allowance and the RTA would meet quarterly.
