Residents fear a looming lack of public transport will affect how they commute to work, college and afford to leave their village once the a bus scheme ends in June. It comes after their local direct bus stopped running through the villages of Rassau and Garnlydan near Ebbw Vale.
Currently, the communities rely on the pilot Fflecsi bus scheme, which has been running since June 2021 but is set to end in June 2023. Blaenau Gwent Council state that they are in discussion with Welsh Government and Transport for Wales about "hopefully continuing this service" and hope to have news on this in the coming months.
Fflecsi was introduced to Blaenau Gwent - replacing routes E2 and E4 - as an easier way to travel. To leave Rassau and Garnlydan via bus, residents have to use the app or telephone number to book a seat on a bus half an hour before they need to travel. However, once the pilot scheme ends, residents worry about how they will travel if another service isn't secured.
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Ivor Richards, 79, who lives in Rassau, said that the bus service is vital for the village. He said: "I drive but you never know I might need to use it one day." Mr Richards said he has the car in case he needs to drive to the doctor but doesn't feel comfortable driving further afield. He added that if there was a bus available in the village, which he didn't need to call or use an app to book, he would use it to travel the area.
A mum of two, who asked not to be named, said that she uses the Fflecsi bus every day to take her daughter to school and is worried about how they will be affected if the scheme ends. She said: "I don't drive and we rely on the bus for everything, going to school, doctor's appointments and food shops."
She worries there will be no buses in Rassau after the pilot scheme ends in June. She claims that she will have to walk half an hour to and from school every day with her two-year-old and seven-year-old. She added: "I think it will affect the older people more than anything, they won't be able to go to town, doctor and hospital appointments that they rely on the buses for."
She added that Ebbw Vale is her nearest town, which is a 45-minute walk away from their home, and "many will become isolated" without affordable public transport.
Lynne Hole, 76, has a bus stop right outside her home and used to use the X15 but says she has now lost her independence to travel outside of the village. She said: "We always used a car but my husband now has dementia and we now can't get to town - we have to rely on somebody."
Mrs Hole said that she often used to catch a bus on a Friday to head down to Ebbw Vale town centre to meet her sister for coffee and visit the market. She said: "I've lost all that now - I don't go out." She now relies on her daughter to take her shopping or into town once every week.
She added that a lot of people in the village are now feeling "cut off." She said: "A lot of people use the bus and I can't understand [why they stopped]. At one time, I could get on a bus here and go all the way to Risca, where my sister lives - it was wonderful. A lot of people used it for college too, to get to Crosskeys."
Ella Challenger, 38, from Rassau, has set up a petition to keep buses in the area after hearing that the bus scheme is coming to an end. She said that a loss of public transport with be "catastrophic" to the community, especially to the "older generation" and those who may not be able to afford taxi prices every day.
Ella worries about how her 16-year-old daughter will get to college come September. She added: "She'll have no way of getting there without a bus. I don't want her walking two miles there, which takes 45 minutes on a good day, one way."
Ella also has an 18-month-old baby and relies on the bus herself when she goes food shopping with a pram. She said that she used the X15 to do her food shopping in Brynmawr but now has to use a Fflecsi bus which takes her to Ebbw Vale. She claimed: "It's around £7 in a taxi for two miles down the road into Ebbw Vale town, which is expensive. So when we had the bus service it was great, but they're reducing them and now, come June, I don't think we'll have any buses at all - it's absolutely ridiculous."
Ella worries that it will also impact the elderly residents in the area and has set up a petition to keep buses running to Rassau and Garnlydan. You can find out more about the petition here.
A spokesperson from Blaenau Gwent council said: “We continue to work closely with commercial operators and partners - including Transport for Wales - to build a strong and sustainable bus network for Wales. There are three types of services being run at the moment: commercial routes run by private providers; services which we pay private providers a subsidy to run and the Fflecsi pilot, which has been running since June 2021.
"Covid-19 devasted bus usage so Welsh Government provided funding during the pandemic and this continued post-pandemic, through the Bus Emergency Scheme (BES). As of this moment this is due to end after June this year. This funding enabled private providers to remain viable whilst it was hoped passenger numbers would return to pre-pandemic numbers.
"Alongside the other 21 local authorities in Wales, we have been lobbying Welsh Government on the impact this funding reduction may have on local bus services. We do not know fully the impact this will have on private providers and we hope to have greater clarity on this soon. The Fflecsi services will continue until the end of June 2023, and we are currently in discussions with Welsh Government and Transport for Wales about hopefully continuing this service but perhaps using a different model. We hope to have news on this in the coming months.”
A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “Transport for Wales are working with Blaenau Gwent Council to consider options for the future of the service, and will be further consulting with the local community over the next few weeks.”
A spokesperson for Stagecoach South Wales said: "Service X15 no longer runs between Ebbw Vale and Brynmawr. Customers wishing to travel from Ebbw Vale to Brynmawr can use Stagecoach Service 78 or fflecsi Blaenau Gwent services. Fflecsi can be booked on demand using the fflecsi app or by calling 0300 234 0300. For full information please visit https://www.stagecoachbus.com/promos-and-offers/south-wales/latest-bus-timetables-across-south-wales".
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