English: First off, I'd like to thank the Chairman, my fellow committee members, as well as all the panelists and staff who supported us in our work on this report. Now, between the pandemic, strike action and the cost-of-living crisis, public transport in Wales and across the UK is facing a wide variety of challenges. This means it's even more important than ever for the Welsh Government to deliver a joined-up sustainable plan for bus and rail companies. It's also important to look ahead to the future. Recommendation 6 of the report states that 'The Welsh Government should provide an update on the work it is undertaking with other partners to understand future travel patternsand their impact'. I know that my colleague Natasha Asghar will have more to say on the scrutiny of Transport for Wales, but as shadow Minister for climate change, I'd like to reiterate how important public transport by rail and bus is to meeting our environmental targets. If the Welsh Government wants to meet Wales's net-zero obligations, people need access to travel that is both reliable and affordable. Only this morning we were talking about the road scheme having been stopped by the Deputy Minister. That's all well and good if you've got the public transport infrastructure in place, and sadly we don't have that in Wales. Access to public transport, particularly bus travel, is essential to address social deprivation and mobility. University of South Wales research found that the most deprived areas saw the greatest decline in access to services due to the pandemic. Evidence from Transport for Wales shows that 13 per cent of Welsh households don't even have access to a car, and 25 per cent of bus users have a disability or a long-term illness. So, the Welsh Government, Minister and Deputy Minister, need to consider what can be done to help our most vulnerable, often living in quite socially isolated areas. The current cost-of-living crisis cannot result in those who are struggling losing their access to public transport. Recommendation 15 states that 'The Welsh Government should set out what assessment it has made of the impact of energy costs and the cost-of-living crisis on its modal shift targets.' As we mentioned in the report, the UK Government has already moved to cap bus fares outside of London at £2. Silviya Barrett confirmed that bus services in Wales declined by 45 per cent in the 10 years between 2011-12 and 2020-21, but in that last year, between March 2020 and March 2021, which was the first year of the pandemic, the cuts were 36 per cent. According to Joe Rossiter, the reduction of rail and bus services has had a significant impact on our rural communities and - this is the crux of the issue - not everyone is being affected equally by the reduction in services. People in remote and rural communities will disproportionately feel the impacts of reductions in service. And as we note in the report, there are risks that the proposed franchising system outlined in the bus reform Bill could actually close out smaller operators. These operators, particularly in rural Wales, are well placed to understand the needs of their local communities and respond to changes in demand. Certainly in my constituency, we have Llew Jones, who's a small bus operator, and he really works with the community and the passengers. We've also got now the introduction of the Fflecsi bus service, and that's proving to be a really worthwhile scheme. We agree with the suggestion that the Bill should include provision to ensure that smaller companies can participate in the franchising process. We're pleased that the White Paper acknowledges this and includes proposals for addressing it. However, we do need to emphasise that the process should be designed in such a way as to minimise the cost of submitting bids for those smaller operators. Whilst I appreciate the financial constraints, there is more that could be done with the organisations that are already in place. In particular, we've seen clear evidence of a lack of co-ordination in delivering transport between different local authorities. Josh Miles believed that 'Bws Cymru' has lots of the right areas in it, but his main concern was that some of the underpinning elements of the strategy were simply not being delivered. He said there needs to be a focus on delivery, and that 'Local authorities don't have much by way of staff or resources to be able to put into the process at the moment So, there are just a lot of things going on and we haven't quite got the coherence or the investment to deliver things yet'. Comments made by our witnesses such as these highlight that a lack of joined-up thinking can impact transport policy. It's something that the report's already identified and we need to seek to address. I appreciate that some of these views have been taken on board. The reputation, consistency and reliability of public transport -
Welsh: Yn gyntaf, hoffwn ddiolch i'r Cadeirydd, fy nghyd-aelodau o'r pwyllgor, yn ogystal â'r holl banelwyr a staff a'n cefnogodd yn ein gwaith ar yr adroddiad hwn. Nawr, rhwng y pandemig, y streic a'r argyfwng costau byw, mae trafnidiaeth gyhoeddus yng Nghymru a ledled y DU yn wynebu amrywiaeth eang o heriau. Golyga hyn ei bod yn bwysicach nag erioed fod Llywodraeth Cymru yn cyflwyno cynllun cynaliadwy cydgysylltiedig ar gyfer cwmnïau bysiau a threnau. Mae hefyd yn bwysig edrych ymlaen at y dyfodol. Mae argymhelliad 6 yn yr adroddiad yn nodi 'Dylai Llywodraeth Cymru roi'r wybodaeth ddiweddaraf am y gwaith y mae'n ei wneud gyda phartneriaid eraill i ddeall patrymau teithio yn y dyfodola'u heffaith'. Gwn y bydd gan fy nghyd-Aelod Natasha Asghar fwy i'w ddweud am y gwaith craffu ar Trafnidiaeth Cymru, ond fel Gweinidog newid hinsawdd yr wrthblaid, hoffwn ailadrodd pa mor bwysig yw trafnidiaeth gyhoeddus ar drenau a bysiau i gyflawni ein targedau amgylcheddol. Os yw Llywodraeth Cymru am fodloni rhwymedigaethau sero net Cymru, mae angen i bobl gael mynediad at drafnidiaeth sy'n ddibynadwy ac yn fforddiadwy. Y bore yma, roeddem yn sôn am y cynllun ffyrdd a ataliwyd gan y Dirprwy Weinidog. Mae hynny'n iawn os oes gennych seilwaith trafnidiaeth gyhoeddus ar waith, ond yn anffodus, nid oes gennym hynny yng Nghymru. Mae mynediad at drafnidiaeth gyhoeddus, yn enwedig teithio ar fysiau, yn hanfodol i fynd i'r afael â symudedd ac amddifadedd cymdeithasol. Canfu ymchwil Prifysgol De Cymru mai'r ardaloedd mwyaf difreintiedig sydd wedi wynebu'r gostyngiad mwyaf mewn mynediad at wasanaethau oherwydd y pandemig. Mae tystiolaeth gan Trafnidiaeth Cymru yn dangos nad oes gan 13 y cant o gartrefi Cymru fynediad at gar hyd yn oed, ac mae gan 25 y cant o ddefnyddwyr bysiau anabledd neu salwch hirdymor. Felly, Weinidog a Ddirprwy Weinidog, mae angen i Lywodraeth Cymru ystyried beth y gellir ei wneud i helpu ein pobl fwyaf agored i niwed, sy'n aml yn byw mewn ardaloedd sy'n eithaf ynysig yn gymdeithasol. Ni all yr argyfwng costau byw presennol arwain at wneud i'r rheini sy'n ei chael hi'n anodd golli eu mynediad at drafnidiaeth gyhoeddus. Mae argymhelliad 15 yn nodi 'Dylai Llywodraeth Cymru nodi pa asesiad y mae wedi'i wneud o effaith costau ynni a'r argyfwng costau byw ar ei thargedau newid moddol.' Fel y dywedasom yn yr adroddiad, mae Llywodraeth y DU eisoes wedi cymryd camau i gapio pris tocynnau bws y tu allan i Lundain ar £2. Cadarnhaodd Silviya Barrett fod gwasanaethau bysiau yng Nghymru wedi gostwng 45 y cant yn y 10 mlynedd rhwng 2011-12 a 2020-21, ond yn y flwyddyn ddiwethaf honno, rhwng mis Mawrth 2020 a mis Mawrth 2021, sef blwyddyn gyntaf y pandemig, roedd y toriadau'n 36 y cant. Yn ôl Joe Rossiter, mae'r gostyngiad mewn gwasanaethau rheilffordd a bws wedi cael effaith sylweddol ar ein cymunedau gwledig a - dyma graidd y mater - nid yw'r lleihad yn y gwasanaethau'n effeithio'n gyfartal ar bawb. Bydd pobl mewn cymunedau anghysbell a gwledig yn teimlo effeithiau lleihad yn y gwasanaethau yn anghymesur. Ac fel y nodwn yn yr adroddiad, mae risgiau y gallai'r system fasnachfreinio arfaethedig a amlinellir yn y Bil diwygio bysiau gau'r drws ar weithredwyr llai. Mae'r gweithredwyr hyn, yn enwedig yn y Gymru wledig, mewn sefyllfa dda i ddeall anghenion eu cymunedau lleol ac i ymateb i newidiadau yn y galw. Yn sicr, yn fy etholaeth i, mae gennym Llew Jones, gweithredwr bysiau bach, ac mae'n gweithio'n agos gyda'r gymuned a'r teithwyr. Mae gwasanaeth bws Fflecsi wedi'i gyflwyno bellach hefyd, ac mae hwnnw'n gynllun gwerth chweil. Rydym yn cytuno â'r awgrym y dylai'r Bil gynnwys darpariaeth i sicrhau y gall cwmnïau llai gymryd rhan yn y broses fasnachfreinio. Rydym yn falch fod y Papur Gwyn yn cydnabod hyn ac yn cynnwys cynigion ar gyfer mynd i'r afael â'r mater. Fodd bynnag, mae angen inni bwysleisio y dylid llunio'r broses mewn ffordd sy'n lleihau cost cyflwyno cynigion ar gyfer y gweithredwyr llai hynny. Er fy mod yn deall y cyfyngiadau ariannol, mae mwy y gellid ei wneud gyda'r sefydliadau sydd eisoes yn eu lle. Yn benodol, rydym wedi gweld tystiolaeth glir o ddiffyg cydgysylltu ar ddarparu trafnidiaeth rhwng gwahanol awdurdodau lleol. Credai Josh Miles fod 'Bws Cymru' yn cynnwys llawer o'r meysydd cywir, ond ei brif bryder oedd nad oedd rhai o elfennau sylfaenol y strategaeth yn cael eu cyflawni. Dywedodd fod angen canolbwyntio ar gyflawni, ac 'nid oes gan awdurdodau lleol lawer o staff nac adnoddau i'w rhoi yn y broses ar hyn o bryd Felly, mae llawer o bethau'n digwydd ac nid oes gennym gydlyniad na buddsoddiad i gyflawni pethau eto'. Mae sylwadau fel y rhain a wnaed gan ein tystion yn amlygu y gall diffyg meddwl cydgysylltiedig effeithio ar bolisi trafnidiaeth. Mae'n rhywbeth y mae'r adroddiad eisoes wedi'i nodi ac mae angen inni geisio mynd i'r afael ag ef. Rwy'n derbyn bod rhai o'r safbwyntiau hyn dan ystyriaeth. Mae angen gwell enw da, cysondeb a dibynadwyedd trafnidiaeth gyhoeddus -