A SCHOOLBOY in uniform of well below 16 asked for a single ticket at Rawcliffe Bar Park & Ride.

Even the driver was astonished at the amount indicated on his ticket machine so he called for a second opinion from a P&R official, who boarded the bus and confirmed that the schoolboy would indeed have to pay £1.60 for a single journey to East Cottages.

I telephoned the council who stated that the pricing formula is based on the retail price index, but that no official was available who would know about P&R ticket pricing policy because the two managers who set up the new contract had left.

It is understandable to make wage-earning adults pay the full price, but why an under-16 schoolboy?

If City of York Council agrees a contract where schoolchildren must pay wage earners' ticket prices, won't this discourage bus use and oblige parents to use cars to take their children to and from school?

Could the council please see sense, do the right thing and introduce concessionary fares for schoolchildren wanting to use Park & Ride?

Kerry Hutchinson,

Manor Park Close,

Shipton Road,

York.

Updated: 13:09 Wednesday, December 11, 2002