English: Today, when you speak to any young person about the sorts of things they want to see from politics, public transport, both its availability and its cost, are always pretty near the top of the list. Through the Neath area economic forum, we heard a story of a young man who'd lost confidence due to a failed job placement, which had broken down as a result of his having to depend on bus transport from the top of the Neath valley into Neath and onwards into Cardiff. The difficulty of making that journey work for him had led to him losing his job and set him back, really, on the road to sustainable employment. So, young people definitely need a new deal for bus users and one that gives them free or cheap travel, but that also improves travel times and experience. And that's about bus prioritisation, planning issues and technology, as we've discussed several times before in this Chamber. On the cost of travel, I welcome the Welsh Government's consultation on extending the age of discounted travel to those aged 24, and I'd encourage young people across Wales to respond to that consultation with their views so we can hear what matters to them. I also think it's right that the Welsh Government should keep alive the option, if needs be, of a mandatory scheme to build on the voluntary arrangements if that should prove to be necessary. But the debate today on the Welsh Conservatives' motion is not about those things; the motion repeats the policy that the Conservatives have been pushing in the press in recent weeks, which has the virtue of consistency if little else. They claim that offering free bus travel and a third off rail fares would cost £25 million. Let's examine that. There are currently some 15,000 pass holders who will take approximately 1.5 million journeys on buses by March 2018. On the basis of those figures, you can assume that a completely free travel pass would be used by many more young people. Assuming an adult bus ticket price costs around £2 and some 350,000 people would be potentially eligible, the price tag for the Conservative proposal is not £25 million, it's probably much nearer £70 million - and that's just for the bus element, let alone the rail discount. Now, I've got a calculator if anybody wants to borrow it. But they tell us that they want to scrap education maintenance allowance in order to pay for part of it, just like their Tory colleagues did in Westminster - the EMA, which, by the way, supports 26,000 students to stay in education. Now, if you're one of those students - and we've heard a lot about educational opportunities from the bench opposite today - if you're one of those students the Conservative plan would take away from you more than £1,500 a year. Russell George has said that transport costs are a huge barrier to education and I agree, but what on earth do you call a £1,500 hit? I call that a huge barrier too. And, if the Tory bus policy isn't puzzling enough, their policy of a third off rail travel is already national rail policy. So, I won't be backing the Tory motion today, because it doesn't help young people and it doesn't add up. I urge young people to respond to the Welsh Government's consultation and to tell us what they want from discounted bus travel so they can get policy that works for them.
Welsh: Heddiw, pan fyddwch yn siarad ag unrhyw berson ifanc am y math o bethau y maent am eu gweld o wleidyddiaeth, mae trafnidiaeth gyhoeddus, o ran ei argaeledd a'i gost, bob amser yn eithaf agos at frig y rhestr. Drwy fforwm economaidd ardal Castell-nedd, clywsom stori am ddyn ifanc a oedd wedi colli hyder am fod cyfle lleoliad gwaith wedi methu, a hynny am ei fod yn gorfod dibynnu ar gludiant bws o ben cwm Nedd i mewn i Gastell-nedd ac ymlaen i Gaerdydd. Roedd yr anhawster o wneud i'r daith honno weithio iddo ef wedi arwain at golli ei swydd a'i adael ar ôl, mewn gwirionedd, ar y ffordd i gyflogaeth gynaliadwy. Felly, yn bendant mae angen i bobl ifanc gael bargen newydd ar gyfer defnyddwyr bysiau ac un sy'n caniatáu iddynt deithio am ddim neu'n rhad, ond sydd hefyd yn gwella amseroedd teithio a phrofiad. Ac mae hynny'n ymwneud â blaenoriaethu bysiau, materion cynllunio a thechnoleg, fel sydd wedi ei drafod gennym sawl gwaith o'r blaen yn y Siambr hon. Ar gost teithio, croesawaf ymgynghoriad Llywodraeth Cymru ar ymestyn oedran teithio am bris gostyngol i gynnwys rhai 24 oed, a buaswn yn annog pobl ifanc ledled Cymru i ymateb i'r ymgynghoriad gyda'u safbwyntiau fel y gallwn glywed beth sy'n bwysig iddynt hwy. Rwyf hefyd yn meddwl ei bod yn iawn y dylai Llywodraeth Cymru gadw'r opsiwn, os oes angen, o gynllun gorfodol i adeiladu ar y trefniadau gwirfoddol os gwelir bod angen gwneud hynny. Ond nid yw'r ddadl heddiw ar gynnig y Ceidwadwyr Cymreig yn ymwneud â'r pethau hynny; mae'r cynnig yn ailadrodd y polisi y mae'r Ceidwadwyr wedi bod yn pwyso amdano yn y wasg dros yr wythnosau diwethaf, ac mae'n gyson os nad yw'n fawr ddim arall. Maent yn honni bod cynnig teithiau bws am ddim a thraean oddi ar docynnau trên yn costio £25 miliwn. Gadewch inni edrych ar hynny. Ar hyn o bryd ceir oddeutu 15,000 o ddeiliaid tocynnau a fydd yn gwneud tua 1.5 miliwn o deithiau ar fysiau erbyn mis Mawrth 2018. Ar sail y ffigurau hynny, gallwch gymryd yn ganiataol y buasai tocyn teithio rhad ac am ddim yn cael ei ddefnyddio gan lawer mwy o bobl ifanc. Gan gymryd bod tocyn bws i oedolion yn costio tua £2 ac y byddai oddeutu 350,000 o bobl yn gymwys o bosibl, byddai'r pris am gynnig y Ceidwadwyr yn agosach at £70 miliwn na £25 miliwn mae'n debyg - ac ar gyfer yr elfen bws yn unig y mae hynny, heb sôn am y gostyngiad trên. Nawr, mae gennyf gyfrifiannell os oes unrhyw un am ei benthyg. Ond maent yn dweud wrthym eu bod am gael gwared ar y lwfans cynhaliaeth addysg er mwyn talu am ran ohono, yn union fel y gwnaeth eu cymheiriaid Torïaidd yn San Steffan - y lwfans cynhaliaeth addysg, sydd, gyda llaw, yn cynorthwyo 26,000 o fyfyrwyr i aros mewn addysg. Nawr, os ydych chi'n un o'r myfyrwyr hynny - ac rydym wedi clywed llawer am gyfleoedd addysg o'r fainc gyferbyn heddiw - os ydych chi'n un o'r myfyrwyr hynny byddai cynllun y Ceidwadwyr yn mynd â mwy na £1,500 y flwyddyn oddi wrthych. Mae Russell George wedi dweud bod costau trafnidiaeth yn rhwystr mawr i addysg ac rwy'n cytuno, ond beth ar y ddaear ydych chi'n galw colli £1,500? Rwy'n galw hynny'n rhwystr enfawr hefyd. Ac os nad yw polisi bws y Torïaid yn ddigon o benbleth, mae eu polisi o draean oddi ar docynnau trên eisoes yn bolisi rheilffyrdd cenedlaethol. Felly, ni fyddaf yn cefnogi cynnig y Torïaid heddiw gan nad yw'n helpu pobl ifanc ac nid yw'n gwneud synnwyr. Rwy'n annog pobl ifanc i ymateb i ymgynghoriad Llywodraeth Cymru ac i ddweud wrthym beth y maent ei eisiau o ran teithiau bws am ddim er mwyn iddynt gael polisi sy'n gweithio iddynt.