Madam,

I was interested to read the letter from Paul Frazer on the subject of a solution to congestion would be to make bus times more efficient.

Mr Frazer mentions that bus congestion in Eldon Square, Dolgellau occurs when buses arrive early before others depart and he is correct in his statement that bus times could be more efficient.

I would suggest that the primary reason for this problem in Dolgellau is due to the policy, regarding TrawsCymru T2/T3 services, adopted by the Welsh Government and Gwynedd Council.

The connectivity times for the T2/T3 in Dolgellau have recently in January 2018 been raised from five to 10 minutes according to the timetable, which is excessive compared to the normal connectivity times for the rest of the TrawsCymru network, where the norm is five minutes.

In addition Gwynedd Council which manages the T2 and T3 contracts on behalf of the Welsh Government has organised for itself a Quality Partnership Agreement where services in Dolgellau can wait for five minutes beyond their departure time for late-running T3 services from Wrexham.

Dolgellau is a small town with no bus station and buses therefore have to wait in Eldon Square. Because of the excessive 10-minute connectivity time and the Quality Partnership Agreement this wait can be 15 minutes and it is no surprise, therefore, that Eldon Square ends up full of buses.

This is very frustrating for southbound T2 passengers who have to wait for 15 minutes only to find no T3 passengers from Wrexham transferring to the T2 and knowing that the 15-minute wait has destroyed their ability to connect to other southbound bus services in Aberystwyth.

However, Mr Frazer should be grateful. At least he has connecting bus services in Dolgellau, where the T2 and T3 services as of January 2018 will have exactly the same arrival and departure times. In Aberystwyth, at the end of the T2 route, we have a different problem which is largely a result of the Welsh Government policy on TrawsCymru connectivity times in Dolgellau.

In Aberystwyth we have a large town with a large bus station with plenty of bus stands. However, connectivity times of the T2 to T1/T5 in Aberystwyth are completely haphazard with 50 per cent of T2 services having no connectivity and those that do have connectivity levels of three minutes, four minutes and five minutes.

There is also no Quality Partnership Agreement in Aberystwyth to allow waits for late-running services. Where the five-minute Quality Partnership delayed departure to the T2 in Dolgellau is applied then connectivity of the T2 with T1/T5 in Aberystwyth (where it does exist) is destroyed.

As Mr Frazer rightly points out, the ridiculous 15-minute waits of the T2 in Dolgellau is causing congestion due to parked buses, but it is also destroying the ability of passengers travelling south to make connections with T1/T5 services in Aberystwyth on a strategic north/south route.

Yours etc, Dr John McTighe, Llanrhystud.

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