, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for North Wales and Transport
Can I thank the Member for not just the question, but also outlining the huge success of programmes, particularly at Roath, but I have an extensive list of programmes that have been successful across Cardiff, which deserve, I think, applause? I know that…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for North Wales and Transport
We're working with Cardiff Council to support safer routes to schools, and we're providing funding to the local authority for cycle and child pedestrian training, as well as for improvements to road safety and walking and cycling routes to school.
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for North Wales and Transport
Well, the Member is right: I do need to point to the bus Bill and bus franchising is a huge generational opportunity to be able to improve public transport across Wales, and I do believe that public transport should be viewed as the third public service…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for North Wales and Transport
I think the Member raises a really important point over devolution of rail infrastructure. My view is that devolution of rail infrastructure should be seen more as a process rather than an event. We know with the transfer of the core Valleys lines to Welsh…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for North Wales and Transport
Well, can I thank the Member for his question and say that the shadow—hopefully soon the actual—Secretary of State for Wales and I talk very regularly regarding all manner of policy areas, including rail transport? I think there's something to be said that…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for North Wales and Transport
Well, can I thank her for the questions that the Member has raised, and rightly so, about major events, not just in Cardiff but also in other parts of Wales, and the need to make sure that we've got a strategy in place to move people around efficiently and as…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for North Wales and Transport
I can only make decisions for the future. I can't make decisions for the past. On the very question of support for any organisation and any belief that there may be inappropriate decisions made, it would be for PAPAC and/or the Finance Committee to consider…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for North Wales and Transport
Can I thank the Member for her question and say that, in regard to 40 mph to 70 mph areas, this is very much a key concern of ours? We are committed, through the Wales transport strategy, to producing a road safety strategy, an action plan for improving…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for North Wales and Transport
Absolutely, yes. Llywydd, we're looking at the overall envelope of funding for local authorities through local transport grants and other forms of funding. My view is that we need to be less prescriptive. We need to give the greatest degree of flexibility…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for North Wales and Transport
Well, can I thank the Member for the question, and can I also declare an interest here, in that that road is widely used by members of the public from my constituency? I will update the Member on progress that has been made, but I think there's an important…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for North Wales and Transport
Well, can I thank the Member for his question? I don't recognise some of the statistics quoted just now. I think the most important point to raise, though, is that the number of casualties on 20 and 30 mph roads combined—which is the key way of looking at…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for North Wales and Transport
We're dedicated to improving road safety, saving lives and reducing casualties, and we'll continue to refine our 20 mph policy based on feedback. We provide road safety funding to local authorities, and we're making safety improvements to the strategic road…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for North Wales and Transport
Yes, can I thank Joel James for his question and say how timely it is, as well, because I met with the Transport for Wales board just last week to discuss pressing issues and I raised behaviour on the rail network and at stations as one of the key concerns…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for North Wales and Transport
Well, can I thank Buffy Williams for her question? It's my view that investing in bus services is one of the best ways to level up opportunities for people across our communities and I do recognise the benefits of offering passengers simpler and far more…
, Plenary
Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for North Wales and Transport
Yes, of course. We're investing £1 billion to transform the core Valleys lines, with new electric trains entering service later this year on the Treherbert line. We've jointly invested in Porth transport interchange, to connect buses, taxis, cyclists and…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for North Wales and Transport
Thank you very much.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for North Wales and Transport
Steve could talk to the opportunities in north Wales concerning hydrogen, for sure.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for North Wales and Transport
Hydrogen is a really good point, actually, because we're seeing some of the pilots taking shape now. So, there are huge opportunities on that front as well.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for North Wales and Transport
Yes. It's just whether we get to 50 per cent. I can't guarantee that now. I think it's a big challenge. Also, just the cost of doing that is considerable and public finances are still really stretched.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for North Wales and Transport
Yes, top lines. It is challenging on all fronts on taxis and private hire vehicles. Changes to UK Government targets have meant that it's going to be very difficult to provide the pathway that we were hoping to for taxis and private hire vehicles. And on the…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for North Wales and Transport
Well, we can get you a note on that specific event, but, with regard to Wrexham, I met just recently, actually, with the local authority leader and the lead member for transport and one of the co-owners of Wrexham AFC, Rob McElhenney, and we discussed…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for North Wales and Transport
And arguably the biggest challenge coming up is going to be how we deal with major events at Wrexham, at the Racecourse.
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for North Wales and Transport
No train services were cancelled after the concert, so people getting away from Cardiff were able to do so. The road network remained pretty smooth on that day as well. So, whereas there were predictions that it would be chaos on the roads, chaos on the rail…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for North Wales and Transport
On major events, the challenge with major events is that you can't gear up a rail network for major events. You can't have a regular rail network that is designed to carry tens of thousands of people all of the time. So, I think we have to just recognise…
, Climate Change, Environment, and Infrastructure Committee
General scrutiny of the Cabinet Secretary for North Wales and Transport
Chair, you're right, and this is why we need a global centre for rail excellence, in my view. It's absolutely essential that trains should be tested as much as possible before they are used by the public, and trying to test trains on the network can be…
