A step towards more public control of buses in Carmarthenshire has been taken by council chiefs.

Cabinet approved a basic network of bus services in the county which companies would have to bid for in the future rather than operating their own routes as they largely do now.

The Welsh Government wants a new system in which Transport for Wales (TfW), which it owns, oversees franchises. TfW, with input from councils and regional bodies called corporate joint committees, would set routes, timetables and fares.

The hope is that bus services will better reflect local and regional demand and that ticketing will be more integrated, but questions have been asked about the cost of franchising and how long it would take to implement.

The plan is for the new system to come into effect in South West Wales first, from summer 2027, subject to legislation being passed in the Senedd. Franchising would then be rolled out across other regions.

A consultation took place in South West Wales over the summer leading to 679 responses, and councils including Carmarthenshire are now having to endorse a so-called base network as part of the process.

A cabinet report said full and complete timetables would be developed as a next step. “Passengers want a well-planned and reliable network that takers them where they want to go,” it said.

Introducing the report at a meeting on December 1 Cllr Edward Thomas, whose cabinet brief includes transport, said: “This base network has very little material change to what public transport provision is delivered in Carmarthenshire now.”

Taxpayers as well as passengers help fund bus services currently. In Carmarthenshire there was £4.9 million of taxpayer support in 2024-25 in the form of Welsh Government bus grants and concession card reimbursements. The council’s contribution to the £4.9 million was £95,000.

Cabinet approved the base network, which will now go to the South Wales Wales corporate joint committee and Welsh ministers for endorsement.

Cllr Hazel Evans welcomed anything that would make things better for passengers while Cllr Linda Evans said it was important that a lot of people had responded to the consultation.