THERE seems to be a lot of happy bus passengers in York.

The city’s bus services have been rated the best in England following a survey of users in 23 local authority areas across the country.

It is easy to be sceptical about such studies.

But this survey – conducted by Passenger Focus – seems credible.

More than 750 passengers in York were questioned, and the city came top in 14 out of 31 categories, including value for money, journey time and information at bus stops.

That’s not to say things couldn’t be better.

York people who know the routes might feel using the buses is easy. We’re not sure how easy it is for those who are just visiting, however. And it would be good to see a bit more coordination between the various bus companies operating in the city.

Still, the bus operators are clearly on the right track. And services could get even better.

The council has received almost £500,000 from the Government’s clean vehicle technology fund to convert an extra five older diesel buses to run on electricity.

York has also been separately shortlisted for a share of a £35 million government pot to fund more ultra-low emission vehicles such as electric buses.

This is all good news. We need more people to take the bus so as to reduce congestion. But we also need those buses to be clean.

It has been estimated that as many as 80 people die in York each year because of air pollution. That is far too many. Fewer cars and cleaner buses would surely help.