Senedd Member Raises Ceredigion Bus Cuts with Finance Minister

Liberal Democrat Senedd Member for Mid & West Wales Jane Dodds has raised proposed bus cuts in Ceredigion in the Senedd this week.

Over the past few months, a large number of cuts to bus services have been introduced by the Plaid Cymru-controlled Ceredigion Council and independent operators.

Since the end of December 2022 three subsidised services have stopped: the Tregaron circular service, the Penrhyncoch to Pontrhydybeddau, and Aberystwyth to Devil’s Bridge routes.

On three other routes, buses now run less often from Aberystwyth to Ponterwyd, to Penrhyncoch, and to Lampeter via Tregaron.

Mid Wales Travel has also announced halved services on three routes from Aberystwyth town centre to the university campus, to Borth and Ynyslas, and the Penparcau circular.

The Welsh Labour Government has also announced that the Bus Emergency Scheme introduced during the pandemic to keep bus services afloat, is due to end in June having been extended for 3 months.

With passengers still below pre-pandemic levels, and bus companies are warning that without financial support, routes and services could be lost.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats are calling for the Welsh Government to adopt a package of measures outlined by a report by the Confederation of Passenger Transport which are designed to increase the attractiveness of bus networks and to make bus travel cheaper. They are also calling for any money saved by cancellations of road building as a result of the Welsh Government’s Road Review to be ploughed into bus services.

Commenting Jane Dodds MS said:

“Bus services are absolutely vital for rural areas like Ceredigion, from building a strong economy to tackling loneliness to keeping young people in the county to tackling climate change. The latest set of cuts are not acceptable.

“It is not enough for Plaid Cymru to blame Labour, they have a cooperation agreement with them in the Senedd and can directly influence Welsh Government policy. They need to use their partnership to set out red lines and push for solutions.

“I am calling for the Welsh Government to introduce a package of measures outlined by a report by the Confederation of Passenger Transport earlier this year. I also want to see the Welsh Government directly invest any money saved from cancelling large road-building projects ploughed into our bus services.

“We cannot expect people to move away from cars if an alternative form of sustainable public transport isn’t being provided in its place.

“We need to see the Welsh Government outline a sustainable alternative for the Bus Emergency Scheme, they simply cannot let routes drop off a cliff edge as has been happening already in Ceredigion.”