With all the complaints recently regarding the changes to First York bus services, these people may like to know there is an organisation called Bus Users UK.

This organisation helps people get a better bus service by direct contact with all bodies regarding bus service provision.

In York we are currently setting up a local users group to ensure the quality bus partnership is adhered to and any further changes to services are discussed before being implemented.

We hope in the near future to organise a bus users’ surgery, when a bus will be parked in York city centre and the public can come on board to air their views directly to management.

For more information, go to www.bususers.org I Foster, Hawthorne Avenue, Haxby, York.


* I read with total disbelief the article in your newspaper regarding the cuts to bus services proposed by First York.

First Group certainly is, to quote its own strapline, “transforming travel in York”, but shouldn’t it be going forwards and not backwards?

No doubt, and as last year’s round of cuts demonstrated, First Group will have overstated the actions necessary. It can then reduce them, claiming to have “listened to their customers”, but pushing through the reductions it really wants while letting our councillors assert some sort of victory.

It is now time for positive action, because the Quality Bus Partnership simply does not work. Private profit wins out against public service every time.

The Government should introduce legislation that would enable local authorities to establish bus franchises in their areas, with cross-boundary cooperation where appropriate. First Group would then have to either compete with them or bid for them. This is entirely practical; it happens today in London and First Group is a franchise operator there.

The City cannot leave its transport in the hands of an operator which openly demonstrates that it has no interest in the local community.

Neil H Raw, Oriel Grove, Clifton, York.


* I write to support the letters about the cuts to bus services and rural isolation.

Much rubbish is written about people who live in villages. “They choose to live in the middle of nowhere” is the most commonly made remark.

In truth, many people grow up in villages and do not choose anything. This is true of both young and old. Children have no say in where they live. Why should they be denied access to the facilities and services that other York residents take for granted?

Many people moved to villages when there was a decent bus service. They have watched public transport fall apart, first under the Tories, who deregulated the buses in the 1980s, and now under a Labour government that has done absolutely nothing to put matters right.

Everywhere else in Europe bus services are rightly seen as a vital community service, controlled by local authorities.

As the nation struggles to adapt to climate change it is unacceptable that the Government refuses to act. How are residents, outside the city or within it, meant to stop using their cars when there is no alternative?

I have supported residents time and again in their attempts to have a decent bus service. We did succeed with the Friday evening bus service to Wheldrake, but have yet to make any progress in Elvington. It shames us that in Deighton, where there is a proper bus service, villagers are left to take their lives in their hands, crossing the A19 and traffic travelling at 60mph.

We need a Government with the courage to put public transport back in the hands of local authorities. It serves no one to give councils the powers to erect bus shelters and build bus stops but no powers to put on a decent bus service.

Coun Christian Vassie, Blake Court, Wheldrake, York.