Transport bosses have issued a use it or lose it' warning to passengers of a bus service that has not even started operating yet.

The familiar warning is more commonly associated with long-established bus routes that are under threat because of falling passenger numbers.

But Metro, the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive, has put out an early warning to would-be passengers of Bradford's FreeCityBus which will provide a city centre shuttle service from September.

"It really is a case of use it or lose it because we can't afford to have a bus full of fresh air running around Bradford city centre," said Councillor Chris Greaves, Metro's spokesman for Bradford.

"The public, particularly the Bradford Older People's Alliance (Bopa), have been really pushing for this service. Now we have shown faith in them, they have to put faith in the service to prove it's viable," added Coun Greaves.

Metro is funding a six-month trial of the service at a cost of £107,300 and, if the initial trial is successful, the full cost will be jointly met by Bradford Council and Metro.

In March 2009, its success will be evaluated against criteria that includes the condition that at least ten passengers must use the service every round trip.

But Coun Greaves said: "I would be horrified if we said that ten people-per-bus was gospel and that, if one had just nine people on it, that broke the rules.

"Some are bound to be fuller than others, so it's taken as an average. We look at things over a significant period because we have got to give people time to get to know it exists. There will be no knee-jerk reactions."

A new report to go before Metro's Tendered Services Working Group on Monday recommends that the First bus company should be awarded the contract to operate the new service.

First Bradford has offered to run the service at an annual cost of £214,600 using three vehicles to link Bradford Interchange, the City Centre shopping area, Forster Square and the University.

First's offer, which would see buses provided every ten minutes from Monday to Saturday, equates to £3.19 a mile - less than existing free bus services in Huddersfield, Leeds and Wakefield.

Arrangements are being made with bus manufacturer Optare to supply three Solo vehicles for the service.

John Mawdesley, of Bopa, said: "First operates a similar service in Leeds and has done a good job. They have also shown that they are willing to invest in Bradford, bringing in 55 new buses in the last few months, so I think they deserve the chance on that basis.

"Having got the Council and Metro to jointly fund it is one thing, but we can't expect a continuation of that funding if there's nobody on the buses. We need people to prove that our campaign was worthwhile and that we were speaking for the people of Bradford."

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