Two items on the agenda at this week’s meeting of the Cardiff City Region Transport Authority are early preparations for a regional transport plan (pdf) and a regional bus network (pdf).
Regional transport plan timetable “extremely ambitious”
Regional transport plans need to be ready for submission to the Welsh Government by August 2024.
The plan will set out the city region’s ambitions, aims and prioritised transport projects for the next five years. The plan will need to be developed with national policies and strategies on freight, the South Wales Metro, active travel and decarbonisation in mind.
£1.45million has been set aside to develop the plan over the next five financial years.
The guidance issued by the Welsh Government is described in the report, rather unflatteringly, as “onerous” and the timetables involved are described as “extremely ambitious” – though the city region will have some flexibility.
Bus routes to be assessed to make the most of existing finances
Somewhat linked to the regional transport plan are early discussions on a regional bus network.
Welsh Government emergency bus funding – first introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic – was recently extended, meaning a “cliff edge” where funding would be withdrawn in July 2023 is set to be avoided.
Nonetheless, this ongoing funding is less generous and there’s understood to be a £9million funding gap. The medium-term goal is to rethink the regional bus network. Meetings have already taken place to discuss this.
Bus routes are being assessed to ensure that public subsidies are being spent where they’re most needed and match the public’s travel patterns. That could mean some bus routes/services are withdrawn or re-routed, but this would also protect regionally-important routes.
