The next Senedd must make bus reform work for passengers

Alison Edwards

As Wales looks ahead to the Senedd elections in May, there is one test every party should be made to answer: how will you make buses quicker, more reliable and more attractive to passengers?

The passage of the Bus Services (Wales) Act was a major moment for public transport.

It creates a new framework for how bus services will be planned and delivered, and the bus industry supports its core ambition: a better connected network that helps people get to work, education, healthcare and leisure, while supporting decarbonisation and economic growth.

But if the next Senedd focuses only on regulation, it will miss the real issue – Slow buses cost us all.

They increase costs for operators, soaking up money that could otherwise be invested in more services. They waste passengers’ time. And they deter others from taking the bus at all.

If buses are stuck in traffic and delayed by congestion, no change in legislation on its own will deliver the transformation Wales wants.

That is why bus speeds must be at the heart of the next government’s transport agenda.

On the busiest urban routes, bus journey times have increased by 50% over the last 50 years. Reversing that trend is possible, and it would be transformational.

Research shows that a 10% increase in bus speeds, taking average speeds to just over 13.6mph, could save nearly £18 million in operating costs and make bus travel significantly more attractive.

The benefits would be felt right across Wales. On busy urban routes alone, that improvement could attract 2.8 million additional passengers, and more than 3 million across the country as a whole.

That is equivalent to every person in Wales making one extra bus journey each year, generating more than £7 million in additional revenue and creating a virtuous circle of growth and reinvestment in the network.

This is why the Confederation of Passenger Transport are calling for a national and local target to increase bus speeds by 10% by the end of the next Senedd term, backed by annual regional targets to deliver anti-congestion measures through Regional Transport Plans.

The good news is that the Bus Services (Wales) Act now gives this issue greater prominence.

An amendment agreed during its passage requires ministers to address barriers that discourage bus use.

That must now translate into practical action: bus priority, better traffic management and serious attention to congestion on the roads where buses operate.

But speed and reliability are only part of the picture. If Wales is serious about creating a modern bus network, it must also think more carefully about how places are designed.

New housing and workplaces should be planned around buses, walking and cycling.

Alongside retrofitting bus priority into existing roads, national planning policy should be strengthened so that bus and coach access is properly considered in new developments from the outset.

A more joined-up approach, supported by the Welsh Government, can prevent poor design that restricts bus access and locks in car use for years to come.

The next Senedd will be responsible not just for overseeing reform, but for making it work.

That means matching ambition with funding, practical delivery and genuine partnership with operators, who will continue to bring essential expertise and innovation.

The Bus Services (Wales) Act offers a once-in-a-generation opportunity. But if Wales wants better buses, it must now focus on the conditions that make good services possible.

Alison Edwards is the Director of Policy and External Relations at the Confederation of Passenger Transport.