Offering motorists a £10 bus pass each to enable them to sample public transport is a worthwhile gesture by First Bradford to mark National Green Transport Week. It makes every sort of sense, environmentally, for more of us to become regular users of public transport. As First Bradford points out, a single bus can hold as many people as 22 cars. Fewer cars means less congestion on the roads and a lot less pollution in the air.

But although there is hardly a single practical argument in favour of the private car from an environmental point of view, many people remain stubbornly attached to them. They like the convenience of being able to set off where they want and when they want instead of being tied to bus routes and timetables. They enjoy the privacy, and would rather crawl along alone in long queues of traffic than travel at greater speed in a bus lane alongside other passengers.

If the free-pass motorists are to be wooed out of their individual capsules and on to buses regularly, they will need to be favourably impressed by the experience. They will want the buses to be reliable, comfortable and punctual and the service to be courteous and efficient. And if, as a result, substantial numbers decide to switch to buses, the service will need to expand to cater for increased demand in a way that the railway service, particularly along the Aire Valley, has failed to do.

First Bus has to do more than come up with £10 tasters. It has to be seen to be able to deliver the goods.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.