Update provided by secretariat, Aaron Hill, CPT Cymru

• Since the last meeting of the CPG, I’m pleased that Welsh Government has brought forward the Bus Transition Fund. This £46m will maintain the vast majority of services until March 2024
• Over the summer, operators have worked closely with Local Authorities, Transport for Wales and Welsh Government to prioritise and protect services. This has seen a number of adjustments to services, including a small number of cancellations.
• These changes are a reflection of changing travel patterns, and the limited funding that is available until the year end, and there will be a period of service changes throughout BTF and operators and authorities understand and respond to the patterns that have emerged during the pandemic.
• A number of additional policy challenges continue, including the rollout of 20mph which has created some challenges of reliability and punctuality in the early days, but we are awaiting further data to better understand the impact.
• Beyond March, the future remains uncertain, and the reality is that without growth many of the services that would have been at risk in July as BES funding drew to a close will once again be at risk. We estimate that this could still be up to 25% of services.
• The industry is now focused on growth, and many areas have seen strong passenger numbers throughout the summer – leisure and tourism markets are now out-performing their pre-pandemic position in some areas. However, concessionary patronage remains well below pre-pandemic figures, despite some operators reporting 5-10% growth in this market in the last 12 months.
• We are working alongside Transport for Wales on a nationwide marketing campaign that will launch in the coming weeks to promote bus usage across the country. This will follow on from Catch the Bus Month, co-ordinated by Bus Users UK, which has operators out in the community speaking to passengers and promoting services.
• We are continuing to work with Welsh Government and local authorities to ensure a smooth transition beyond March, but funding remains a challenge, and we appreciate the ongoing support of the group in raising issues around services and making the case for additional investment.