English: One constituent of mine, Carol Gulliford from Torfaen, told the South Wales Argus that, if services that she uses are cut, she would have to rely on other people and she worries that she won't be able to 'get out and see people andgo to the shops. I won't be able to do anything for myself'. The same lady highlighted how services affect others: 'Lots of people up this way use it to go to the shops or to go to work.' 'My daughter relies on the bus to take her children to school in the mornings and pick them up at the end of the day.' 'She's got a three-year-old so walking isn't really an option.' For many, buses are also essential from a financial perspective, as alternatives such as taxis are costly. Darren Shirley, from the Campaign for Better Transport, highlights how many others use the public transport network for access to employment, education and training, and concerns that this could be hindered if bus services are not supported. It can't be underestimated how much these services mean to people in their everyday lives. I recently presented a petition from the Ebbw Fawr business community to the Petitions Committee, and I'm grateful that they have accepted it. It was gathered by Richard Taylor, who, coincidentally is the Brexit Party candidate for Torfaen - for Blaenau Gwent, pardon me - he was working with Stephen Roberts, who chairs the Ebbw Fawr business community, and there's a particular issue: the impact on the traders of a reduction in bus services. I think the bus service frequency into Ebbw Vale town centre has halved and I've spoken to constituents who talk about the impact that's had on their social lives, in terms of them being able to get out and about, but it's had a very substantial impact also on the business community in Ebbw Vale. I hope that the Minister may be able to update us on some of what he said previously in response to my colleague David Rowlands about what was happening in Ebbw Vale and a desire to run pilot schemes there of the demand-responsive bus service of which I've previously spoken about - the operation of that in Newport. I wonder: is this a service that can bring new users into using buses and provide a service where there was previously none, or is it, less positively, something that is a sticking plaster for areas where bus services are being cut, whether because of funding pressures or congestion issues, and it is an alternative to that, rather than an addition? Before I address the White Paper and possible legislation, I'd just like to contrast what Nigel Winter wrote to me, which was early last year, with some evidence that I've seen since around bus services and how they're doing, because, for the 2017-18 data, there are signs of a stabilisation in bus usage. We had 99.9 million passenger journeys, and that was 99.1 million vehicle kilometres. So, what that implies is the average length of a journey in kilometres is approximately the same as the average number of people who are on the bus. Looking at the data, we actually see, since 2014-15, broad stability in passenger numbers in Wales, and that compares to a steep decline in 2008-09, but then a decline that continued more gently, but still significantly, through to 2014-15. Bus passenger numbers were almost 130 million, and, since 2014-15, they've hovered between 99 million and 100 million. So, I wonder if the Minister can discern any reason for why that decline levelled off in 2014-15. It may be, particularly as we're in an election period, he may emphasise wonderful things that Welsh Government has been doing, and I don't rule out that there may have been some positive initiatives, but I wonder whether he would also give some more dispassionate thought to that, because it's only if we understand why bus usage has declined and then why we've had this plateau that we will be able to make the right decisions to improve bus usage going forward. I'd also note that I've had some further data to the end of 2018, on this occasion. For the fourth quarter of last year, we saw a 2.8 per cent increase in bus passengers in Wales, and that was the third quarter in a row we'd seen an increase. And, consistent with a plateau since 2014-15, we only saw a decline in Wales over the five years of 0.3 per cent, and that compares to an 11 per cent decline in Scotland, a 7.4 per cent decline in London, a 6.9 per cent fall in English metropolitan areas, and a 5.2 per cent in the English shires. So, in terms of trajectory, there has been some improvement since 2014-15.
Welsh: Dywedodd un o fy etholwyr, Carol Gulliford o Dorfaen, wrth y South Wales Argus y byddai'n rhaid iddi ddibynnu ar bobl eraill os bydd gwasanaethau y mae'n eu defnyddio yn cael eu torri, a'i bod yn poeni na fydd yn gallu mynd allan i weld pobl a mynd i'r siopau. Ni fyddaf yn gallu gwneud unrhyw beth drosof fy hun. Tynnodd yr un ddynes sylw at sut y mae gwasanaethau'n effeithio ar eraill: Mae llawer o bobl y ffordd hon yn eu defnyddio i fynd i'r siopau neu i fynd i'r gwaith. Mae fy merch yn dibynnu ar y bws i fynd â'i phlant i'r ysgol yn y boreau a'u casglu ar ddiwedd y dydd. Mae ganddi blentyn tair oed felly nid yw cerdded yn opsiwn mewn gwirionedd. I lawer, mae bysiau hefyd yn hanfodol o safbwynt ariannol, gan fod dewisiadau eraill fel tacsis yn gostus. Mae Darren Shirley, o'r Ymgyrch dros Drafnidiaeth Well yn tynnu sylw at faint o bobl eraill sy'n defnyddio'r rhwydwaith trafnidiaeth gyhoeddus i gyrraedd swyddi, addysg a hyfforddiant, a phryderon y gallai hyn gael ei lesteirio os na chefnogir gwasanaethau bysiau. Ni ellir tanbrisio cymaint y mae'r gwasanaethau hyn yn ei olygu i bobl yn eu bywydau bob dydd. Cyflwynais ddeiseb yn ddiweddar gan gymuned fusnes Ebwy Fawr i'r Pwyllgor Deisebau, ac rwy'n ddiolchgar eu bod wedi'i derbyn. Fe'i casglwyd gan Richard Taylor, sydd, gyda llaw, yn ymgeisydd Plaid Brexit dros Dorfaen - dros Flaenau Gwent, maddeuwch imi - gweithiai gyda Stephen Roberts, sy'n cadeirio cymuned fusnes Ebwy Fawr, ac mae ganddynt broblem benodol: effaith gostyngiad mewn gwasanaethau bysiau ar y masnachwyr. Rwy'n credu bod amlder y gwasanaeth bysiau i ganol tref Glynebwy wedi haneru ac rwyf wedi siarad ag etholwyr sy'n sôn am yr effaith a gafodd ar eu bywydau cymdeithasol, o ran eu gallu i fynd allan, ond mae wedi cael effaith sylweddol iawn hefyd ar y gymuned fusnes yng Nglynebwy. Rwy'n gobeithio y bydd y Gweinidog yn gallu rhoi'r wybodaeth ddiweddaraf i ni ynglŷn â rhywfaint o'r hyn a ddywedodd eisoes mewn ymateb i fy nghyd-Aelod, David Rowlands, am yr hyn a oedd yn digwydd yng Nglynebwy a'r awydd i gynnal cynlluniau peilot yno o'r gwasanaeth bysiau seiliedig ar alw y siaradais amdano o'r blaen - gweithrediad hwnnw yng Nghasnewydd. Tybed a yw hwn yn wasanaeth a all ddenu defnyddwyr newydd i ddefnyddio bysiau a darparu gwasanaeth lle nad oedd un o'r blaen, neu a ydyw, yn llai cadarnhaol, yn rhywbeth sydd ond yn gosod plastr ar y briw mewn ardaloedd lle mae gwasanaethau bysiau'n cael eu torri, boed hynny oherwydd pwysau ariannol neu broblemau tagfeydd, a'i fod yn ddewis amgen yn eu lle, yn hytrach nag ychwanegiad atynt? Cyn imi fynd i'r afael â'r Papur Gwyn a deddfwriaeth bosibl, hoffwn gyferbynnu'r hyn a ysgrifennodd Nigel Winter ataf yn gynnar y llynedd gyda pheth o'r dystiolaeth a welais ers hynny ar wasanaethau bysiau a'u cyflwr, oherwydd, ar gyfer data 2017-18, ceir arwyddion o sefydlogi yn y defnydd o fysiau. Cafwyd 99.9 miliwn o deithiau gan deithwyr, a 99.1 miliwn o gilometrau cerbyd. Felly, mae hynny'n awgrymu bod hyd cyfartalog taith mewn cilomedrau tua'r un faint â'r nifer gyfartalog o bobl sydd ar y bws. O edrych ar y data, ers 2014-15, gwelwn nifer gyffredinol y teithwyr yng Nghymru yn sefydlogi, ac mae hynny'n cymharu â gostyngiad serth yn 2008-09, ond gostyngiad a barhaodd yn llai serth wedyn, ond a oedd yn dal i fod yn sylweddol, hyd at 2014-15. Roedd nifer y teithwyr bws bron yn 130 miliwn, ac ers 2014-15, maent wedi bod yn hofran rhwng 99 miliwn a 100 miliwn. Felly, tybed a all y Gweinidog ganfod unrhyw reswm pam y mae'r gostyngiad hwnnw wedi gwastatáu yn 2014-15. Efallai y bydd yn pwysleisio pethau gwych y mae Llywodraeth Cymru wedi bod yn eu gwneud, yn enwedig gan ei bod yn gyfnod etholiad, ac nid wyf yn diystyru'r ffaith efallai fod rhai mentrau cadarnhaol wedi bod, ond tybed hefyd a allai roi ychydig mwy o ystyriaeth ddiduedd i hynny, oherwydd ni allwn wneud y penderfyniadau cywir ar gyfer gwella'r defnydd o fysiau yn y dyfodol heb ddeall pam y mae'r defnydd o fysiau wedi lleihau a pham ein bod wedi cael cyfnod heb fawr o newid. Hoffwn nodi hefyd fy mod wedi cael peth data pellach, hyd at ddiwedd 2018 y tro hwn. Ar gyfer pedwerydd chwarter y llynedd, gwelsom gynnydd o 2.8 y cant yn nifer y teithwyr bysiau yng Nghymru, a dyna'r trydydd chwarter yn olynol i ni weld cynnydd. Ac yn gyson â'r cyfnod heb fawr o newid ers 2014-15, dim ond gostyngiad o 0.3 y cant a welsom yng Nghymru dros gyfnod o bum mlynedd, ac mae hynny'n cymharu â gostyngiad o 11 y cant yn yr Alban, gostyngiad o 7.4 y cant yn Llundain, gostyngiad o 6.9 y cant mewn ardaloedd metropolitanaidd yn Lloegr, a 5.2 y cant yn siroedd Lloegr. Felly, o ran tueddiad, bu rhywfaint o welliant ers 2014-15.