The Council has provided 20 new bus shelters and various other bus stop improvements along the key bus route between Porth, Tonyrefail and Gilfach Goch – using a significant funding allocation from Welsh Government.
Works to improve the Strategic Bus Corridor have been completed using major funding from Welsh Government’s Local Transport Fund allocated for 2022/23, as well as a 10% Council contribution. The programme of work represents a £480,000 investment – with improvements delivered across the electoral wards of Cymer, Tonyrefail East, Tonyrefail West and Gilfach Goch.
Delivered by the Council’s Streetcare team, the investment has provided improvements to many aspects of the waiting environment for passengers – including new shelters at 20 locations. Other improvements were made across 108 locations, ranging from resurfacing and white lining to new signage.
Councillor Andrew Morgan OBE, Leader of Rhondda Cynon Taf Council and Cabinet Member for Infrastructure and Investment, said: “The Council has carried out improvements across more than 100 local bus stops on the Porth-Tonyrefail-Gilfach Goch Strategic Bus Corridor over the past year. We welcomed significant funding from Welsh Government to enable these works, which amount to a joint investment of almost half a million pounds in total.
“Local bus services provide vital transport which, for many people, is a lifeline preventing them from becoming isolated. It’s important to encourage more people to catch the bus regularly, to improve the environment and reduce congestion on our roads. The Council recently trialled free bus travel for all journeys made in Rhondda Cynon Taf during March 2023 to encourage more bus users, and future opportunities for similar initiatives are being explored.
“The recent bus stop upgrades in the Rhondda have increased access to the local bus network for residents across several communities. They replaced 20 shelters and made various other improvements to waiting areas. This is a similar scheme to the improvements made from Aberaman to Abercynon in 2020/21, which used Welsh Government funding to upgrade 30 bus stops.”
