WITH reference to your editorial 'Pricing folk off the buses' (Evening Press, September 4), First did not announce the Park & Ride fare increase, City of York Council did.

The operating contract allows for an annual price review due in July. The delay is as a result of the council committee timetable, not 'ineptitude' on our part.

Furthermore, the strategy behind the increase is intended, through the discounts offered to regular users, to make Park & Ride more attractive to commuters who would otherwise bring their cars into the city every day.

Somebody buying one of the new annual tickets (our idea, I hasten to add) would save £83.60 against the cost of 12 monthly tickets.

As far as more casual users and visitors are concerned, the increased price still compares favourably with the cost of parking in town.

You were perhaps not aware that we are planning, again to the benefit of the regular commuter, to introduce credit and debit card payment facilities at the sites and a facility to purchase tickets through our website.

These facilities have a cost and were taken into consideration when we first discussed our fare strategy with the council.

I was saddened by the tenor of your editorial. We are feeling punch drunk here; we've all put in long hours to ensure that Park & Ride did run and we continued to try to resolve the dispute.

Under the circumstances, I think you could have been a little less critical.

Peter Edwards

Commercial Manager,

First York.

...ALONG with others, I have been making alternative arrangements to get to and from work using Park & Ride and although it is causing some inconvenience, I still support the bus drivers.

But the management/agency staff driving the Park & Rides could have done with some refresher courses in driving and courtesy.

With few notable exceptions, one was lucky to get a curt nod when presenting a ticket (a "good morning" being greeted with merely a surly expression).

And reducing speed without slamming on the brakes seems to be unknown. Also, on peak-time return trips the buses were seriously overloaded with standing passengers even on the top deck of double-deckers, far exceeding the safety capacity stated on the bus.

Let's face it, it was not altruism or passenger concern that brought the managers out of their cosy offices. It was the contract with City of York Council.

P Witlea,

De Grey Place,

Bishopthorpe, York.

PS: Are the managers and agency drivers working for £6.83 an hour, I wonder?

Updated: 10:39 Monday, September 08, 2003