Madam,

A recent Cambrian News article (2 June) referred to £10,000 allocated by the Welsh Government for a bus interchange in Dolgellau and £500,000 being spent on improving the T2 and T5 TrawsCymru routes.

These figures are from a total value of £63 million in local transport grants awarded to each local authority for schemes to be funded in 20192020. There is a very clear north-south divide in funding and £48 million has been awarded to South Wales from the total of £63 million (76 per cent). Half of the £63 million will be spent on Active Travel schemes (pedestrian/cycles).

Ceredigion will receive just over £1 million of the £63 million (1.7 per cent of the allocation to 22 local authorities). There are some notable winners and the top four local authorities include the AM constituencies of the First Minister (Cardiff) and the Transport Minister (Flintshire). The top four councils will receive 46.8 per cent of the funding with grant values to Flintshire of £5.5 million (8.7 per cent), Swansea £5.5 million (8.7 per cent), Merthyr Tydfil £7.7 million (12.2 per cent), and Cardiff £10.8 million (17.2 per cent). The £500,000 being spent in Cardiff for “On Street Cycle Hire” is 50 per cent of the total transport grant funding allocation for Ceredigion.

Your article on 2 June quotes Gwynedd Council as being tight-lipped regarding the £10,000 allocated for a bus interchange in Dolgellau. This is not surprising when you recognise that £10,000 is a pittance compared to the sums being spent elsewhere.

The £10,000 is clearly inadequate and perhaps this might reflect the fact that the Welsh Government has finally recognised that Trawscymru T2 services should not be waiting in Eldon Square for 15 minutes for late-running T3 services from Wrexham.

Perhaps the Welsh Government has decided that the 15-minute waits in Dolgellau will be abandoned.

The T3 service was recommended to run from Wrexham to Aberystwyth to connect with the T1 to Carmarthen and the T5 to Cardigan/Fishguard.

The £500,000 being spent on improving the T2 and T5 TrawsCymru routes (which is 50 per cent of the Ceredigion funding), is deliberately vague. The problem in Aberystwyth is with connections between the T2 and T1 and not with the T5. This problem does not require expenditure - it requires a review of the bus routes and a review of the timetables. The £500,000 being spent on improving the T2 and T5 TrawsCymru routes (what is it being spent on?) will not attract one single extra passenger unless the poor connectivity between services through Aberystwyth is addressed.

Yours etc, Dr John Mctighe, Llanrhystud.

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