Transport Minister Edwina Hart has announced funding to secure the future of two rural bus services in West Wales.
The Cardi Bach bus service, serving Ceredigion coastal communities between New Quay and Cardigan, will receive £40,500 to ensure it can run until March 2016. It will re-start by Easter and operate as a six-day-a-week service from April to October and a three-day-a-week service outside that time. Ceredigion County Council is seeking to secure ongoing funding for the service.
Bwcabus, a demand-responsive and fixed route bus service connecting communities in Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion, has been awarded £108,000 for the first quarter of 2015-16. Carmarthenshire Council and Ceredigion County Council are working together to seek EU funding to meet the subsequent cost of the service.
The Minister said, “Bus services provide vital access to employment and services, particularly in rural areas. The Bwcabus service links many communities in the Teifi Valley and southern Ceredigion that have little or no other public transport, cutting journey times to essential services and providing links to core bus and train networks. The Cardi Bach service plays an important role in coastal Ceredigion’s tourist strategy for walkers, as well as providing essential links for residents without access to other public transport.”
