Ken Skates, Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales, was the special guest on the Urban Transport Next podcast, discussing his vision for transport across Wales.

In a wide ranging conversation with UTG Director Jason Prince, the Cabinet Secretary discussed his motivation for entering politics, the importance of bus services for opportunity, and Wales’ transport vision, especially around rail. He also spoke of his passion for his constituency of Clwyd South, and the regeneration of Wrexham.

On the importance of embedding wellbeing within transport policy, Mr Skates said:

“The purpose of economic growth is to promote the wellbeing of communities and individuals, and the purpose of transport is to ensure the wellbeing of people is catered for. So, for me, wellbeing is something that you cannot stop thinking about when planning transport. Placing wellbeing first and frontal in everything that we do, ensures that you serve all people, and you're promoting opportunity for all.”

Asked about whether there were challenges to this approach, such as opposition to the default 20mph speed limit on restricted roads across Wales, Mr Skates acknowledged there were issues with the communication and engagement around the policy, but he added:

“The policy itself is sound. It is designed to save lives, to make communities more vibrant and more active as well, to generate more movement by people on foot and by bike and through wheeling. It is about making sure that children command the streets rather than cars. The policy is reaping rewards in the sense that collisions are down.”

The Cabinet Secretary spoke of the importance of branding for the Welsh public transport network, knows as the T Network.

“We are trying to combine everything [local and regional buses, and trains] into one familiar, dependable brand – which is also interfaced with everything going on, such as the exciting work with Great British Railways. Sometimes there's a risk that governments and transport authorities protect their own brand and their own interests before those of passengers and citizens, and we've moved way beyond that. We always have the citizen first.”

The conversation also touched upon active travel.

“I’ve always wanted to take active travel out of the culture wars”, he said. “This is all about making sure that people see movement as a means to an end rather than an end in its own right. I’ve been keen to rebrand active travel – and the whole of transport – as travel for all. It's about making sure that you put the citizen first.”

Transport for Wales (TfW), the not-for-profit organisation wholly owned by the Welsh Government to deliver a multi-modal transport network in Wales and the Borders, is a Principal Member of UTG. TfW falls within Ken Skates' ministerial responsibilities. 

You can listen to the full ‘Urban Transport Next: Today, tomorrow, together’ episode below.

The Urban Transport Next series is supported by AtkinsRéalis.