IF your New Year's resolution was to give up the car and start taking the bus, today's news might force you into a rethink.

First passengers are being hit by huge hikes in fares. A First Day ticket is going up by 25 per cent, and a child's First Month pass climbs by a staggering 50 per cent.

Price rises were inevitable, given the leap in fuel costs, driver pay increases and higher insurance. But the scale and size of the rises is shocking.

Worst hit will be those who have no other choice but to travel by First. Anyone on a low income and without a car, including many pensioners and single mothers, will struggle to find the extra money.

The effect on potential passengers is also significant. If York's roads are not to become gridlocked, more people must be persuaded out of their cars and on to public transport.

To this end, the city has already made real progress, with the number of bus passengers rising by nearly 50 per cent in recent years. But inflation-busting fare rises are not going to help City of York Council meet its next target, to increase bus trips by 46 per cent in the next five years.

In both West and South Yorkshire, passenger transport authorities deliver a more comprehensive and efficient train and bus service than we enjoy here. The draft Local Transport Plan reveals that York council has joined with these authorities to develop a "major scheme bid to accelerate investment in local bus services".

For York passengers, that cannot come soon enough.

Updated: 10:57 Thursday, December 22, 2005