CAN we please see an end to the falsehoods and propaganda perpetrated by both First and the council's transport department?

There are only two reasons for bringing this mobile carbuncle on to the streets of York. One is to needlessly increase the price of tickets; the other to increase congestion in York pending congestion charges, which I suspect are the ulterior motive.

We've already learned that the bus has negligible capacity compared to existing buses, except if you want to stand. And in our health and safety conscious times, shouldn't standing on buses be banned as potentially dangerous?

Also, a standing customer should not have to pay the same as a seated customer because they are not getting the same level of service.

Then there is the insistence that the No4 route is the most popular. Maybe it is between the university and the station, but from Acomb and the station the No4 bus never has more than half a dozen people on board. Everyone knows it's far quicker to get the No1 to the station then change.

Bringing an unpopular concept of a ticket machine on to the bus instead of paying the driver will do nothing to encourage people to use this service.

May I suggest rather than putting these "buses" on to other routes, thereby killing off whatever service there is left, First transfer the buses to other cities were they belong.

Steve Smith,

Dijon Ave,

Acomb, York.

Updated: 09:36 Wednesday, May 10, 2006