CPT Cymru backs calls for Welsh Government to restore confidence in public transport
The need for governments to reverse messages which dissuade people from using public transport has been highlighted in an open letter to the Welsh Government from Transform Cymru which has been backed by CPT.
The letter highlights the benefits of travelling by public transport and the risks associated with more people choosing to travel in private vehicles, and sets out what it believes the Welsh Government needs to do to restore people’s confidence.
CPT argues that more people travelling by bus will help to meet decarbonisation targets and climate change obligations, and bus travel caters for the needs of different users. It points out that an increase in people choosing to make journeys by car rather than by bus will worsen air pollution, increase congestion and consequently increase bus journey times, and hinder Wales’s economic recovery with fewer people travelling to towns and city centres.
CPT Cymru director Joshua Miles says: “Bus is a sustainable and inclusive travel option that many people rely on to make essential journeys, and we must reassure people that it is safe to get back on board.
“The bus industry stands ready to play its part in the recovery from Covid-19 but we must have measures in place to avoid a car based recovery.
Bus, which shares many of the same characteristics as other areas of society, must not be singled out in Covid-19 risk assessments, which would undermine the work operators have done to give people the confidence to travel.”