Agenda and draft minutes

The Chairperson welcomed everyone to the meeting.

There were no declarations of interests received.

·        10 July 2023

·        9 October 2023

The minutes of the meetings held on 10 July 2023 and 9 October 2023, were approved as an accurate record.

The Committee received a presentation from Transport for Wales (TFW) in regards to Swansea Bay and West Wales Regional Transport Overview; specially the South West Regional Transport Study.

It was explained that the study commenced in November 2023; therefore, it was still in the early stages of development. Members were informed that the aim of the study was to produce a list of opportunities to improve the desirability of multi modal transport across the Region; taking into account bus data overall, but also working with each Local Authorities to understand local knowledge.

Following the analysis of bus data, Officers intended to overlay that information with an understanding of car usage; including travel patterns and destinations, as well as analysing private transport destinations and routes reflected accurately in the bus corridors. In order to overlay that further, Officers were going to look into the active travel network, both existing and proposed, to try and understand where there were points of interception between the networks; and also where there were opportunities for improvement. In addition, it was planned to tie this in with the rail network, and any areas for development; determining if Officers could pick up any improvements within the developments, at this early stage, to try and make multi modal transport more desirable to the public.

A discussion took place in regards to the timeframes associated with the study. As previously mentioned, TFW had commenced the study in November 2023; and had made significant progress to date in analysing the bus data. It was confirmed that Officers had started drafting the report of bus data, and once finalised will share with each Local Authority; it was anticipated that the report would be completed by the end of this financial year.

It was explained that the data sets and forms of modelling mentioned, were accessible at Local Authority level; however, Local Authorities would need to pay consultancy fees to access the information. It was noted that TFW hold licences for data of this nature, and therefore were able to collaborate on the behalf of Local Authorities.

Members were provided with detail in regards to the bus data that TFW had started gathering and understanding. It was explained that City Swift was a database in which all bus operators fed into, providing real time information; this was the database that TFW were accessing for the study. Officers highlighted that they had utilised data from October 2022 to October 2023; ranking the data into demand, profitability, unwanted dwell time and concessionary.

Officers went through the approach and study output, which was captured as follows:

·       Prioritise bus routes by passenger demand and dwell time;

·       Identify the areas where journey speeds are slowest

·       Identify the greatest need of improvement to deliver the greatest benefit

The presentation detailed an example of bus route ranking. Reference was made to the combining of dwell time and demand, which highlights the areas which have the most passengers but also were impacted by the most demand.

TFW colleagues explained how  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Members were provided with the Case for Change, which was the next part of the process in developing the Regional Transport Plan (RTP).

Officers explained that the Implementation Plan for the RTP was approved at a recent meeting of the Corporate Joint Committee, and submitted to Welsh Government; the next stage of the process was to develop a Case for Change. It was stated that the Case for Change was a document which set out the regions current position and why change was required; it also included a draft of the engagement strategy, and the process in regards to the integrated impact assessment that follows on from the various consultation exercises.

Concerns were raised in regards the timescales associated with developing the RTP, as had been previously mentioned in past meetings.

It was noted that the Case for Change linked to a number of other strategy documents; and specifically was driven by opportunities in regards to the transport strategy. Officers added that the document set out the gaps in the industry, and provided a direction of travel for the next stage.

Reference was made to the Rail Journey Data detailed within the Case for Change, which was included as Appendix 1 of the circulated report. It was noted that the table currently only included rail trips from Swansea; however, Officers had been working on updating this table to include single trips to the four main stations in each of the Local Authority areas. Members were informed that the overall trip data was captured from 2021/22 financial year; the data from 2022/23 financial year will be issued at the end of February 2024.

A discussion took place in regards to the next steps of the RTP process. It was noted that the Case for Change would need to be approved by the Corporate Joint Committee, and then submitted to Welsh Government for approval. The challenging timescales associated with the development of the RTP was reiterated; Officers would need to discuss this further, in terms of what could be delivered within the specified time frame. It was mentioned that the dates were not confirmed; however, Officers were currently working towards developing the initial draft of the RTP by May 2024, the final draft of the RTP by October 2024, and the final RTP by March 2025.

A formal amendment to the recommendation, contained within the circulated report, was proposed and seconded:

‘That the Regional Transport Sub-Committee endorse the Case for Change in respect of the Regional Transport Plan, subject to the inclusion of additional rail journey data; and that it is submitted to the South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee for approval and onward submission to Welsh Government to meet the requirements of the Regional Transport Plan mandate’

It was determined that the Committee were in support of the amendment to be considered by Corporate Joint Committee.

Any urgent items at the discretion of the Chairperson pursuant to Section 100BA(6)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

There were no urgent items received.