No fare to pay on TrawsCymru, that is, nor on a Saturday in a Welsh government experiment to encourage more use of public transport at weekends. But as RHODRI CLARK reports, the industry has serious concerns that the initiative could backfire, particularly if demand regularly exceeds bus operators’ ability to supply.
On the bright and sunny morning of Saturday 8 July, a remarkable experiment began in Wales with the abolition of all fares at weekends on the seven TrawsCymru routes.
The initiative was announced by first minister Carwyn Jones at the Welsh Labour conference in March and took many by surprise. There had been no consultation with the bus industry on the practicalities or merits of the scheme, which did not feature in a detailed consultation document on future Welsh bus policy published by Jones’s government earlier in the month.
The TrawsCymru bus routes grew out of Crosville’s TrawsCambria coach route between north and south Wales via Aberystwyth, once daily in each direction. With government funding, this was replaced in 2003 to 2005 with routes north and south of Aberystwyth operating at higher frequency with low-floor buses. The new routes replaced some shorter-distance services.
By Marc…
