Transport and Highways

Transport is at the heart of life in Wales connecting people with businesses, communities with services. The management and provision of the transport system and services in Wales is complex with many organisations and the public, private and community sectors playing different but complimentary roles. Councils plan, co-ordinate and commission transport infrastructure and services within the context of the emerging Regional Transport Plans (RTPs) which are being developed by the four transport consortia in Wales:

• SEWTA – South East Wales Transport Alliance
• SWWITCH – South West Wales Integrated Transport Consortium
• TRaCC - Trafnidiaeth Canolbarth Cymru (TraCC) is the Regional Transport Consortium for the Mid Wales region
• Taith – North Wales Transport Consortia

The four regional transport consortia are Joint Local Government Committees, they are made up of locally elected members and professional officers in the recognition that transport movements do not take note of boundary issues and that transport policies need to be integrated and holistic in the different parts of Wales.
Councils provide a myriad of transport and highways functions including:

• highways planning
• highways and pavement maintenance
• highways winter maintenance
• traffic management
• maintenance of bridges and other structures
• road safety
• walking and cycling
• local bus services
• street works
• street lighting
• local roads
• community transport schemes
• car parking

The Assembly published their draft Transport Strategy Connecting Wales in 2006 for consultation which focused attention on:

• achieving a more effective and efficient transport system
• achieving a greater use of the more sustainable and healthy forms of travel
• minimising the need to travel

The draft strategy identified the following key challenges:

• reducing transport’s impact on climate change – currently 13.5%
• increasing centralisation of services and the associated transport and access problems
• rising congestion levels
• increasing journey times and distances

In October 2007 the Assembly announced a series of priorities which will inform the publication of the final strategy expected in winter-spring 2008. These priorities were:

• improving transport links
• recognising the distinctive parts of Wales require different solutions
• spending £350m on the trunk road network to improve journey times, accessibility and safety
• improving North-South road and rail links
• enhancements to Cambrian and Valleys lines
• enhanced coach service
• a new safe routes to communities programme
• creation of a sustainable travel towns initiative

To implement the National Transport Strategy WAG intend also to produce a national transport plan setting out detailed policies and programmes.

Major challenges for councils include maintaining sufficient investment in the highways infrastructure as the maintenance ‘backlog’ grows, sustaining regular and affordable public transport services particularly in rural areas, developing plans and programmes in the face of uncertain national policy and timescales.

Key facts

• Local authorities are responsible for about 33,000 km of highways and roads
• 70% of journeys are less than 5 miles in distance
• car travel accounts for almost 80% of miles travelled
• there has been a 24% increase in the number of vehicle km travelled between 1993-2003
• on average people in Wales make about 950 journeys per year with the overall length of journeys increasing by around 57% between 1980-2003
• an average person in Wales travels about 10,000 km a year
• 70% of personal journeys in Wales are made by car
• road traffic is increasing in Wales but the number of road accidents in 2001 was 9,512 compared with 11,822 in 1990

Further information
Plenary statement on Transport 2nd October 2007

Connecting Wales – draft Assembly strategy
The Transport Framework for Wales (Welsh Assembly Government)

Traffic Management Act (UK Parliament)

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