“Manc, the 'school bus' in question wasn't a contract to the school, it was a commercial service that went to an East Riding school because the operator saw a chance to make money.

Again, no connection to Hull. A PTE will never happen here because we don't have the size of population to fund it.

I think it would be fantastic to have the funding PTE's get for this area, but it isn't going to happen anytime soon!”

“Ain't it great to see such fools comment I mean do people think that the busses would run if no one got on it where do they think the money comes from to pay for the drivers, fuel and maintenance prob the same clever people who say the Humber bridge should be free because I'm sure it won't fall down with no maintenance for god sake use what small brain I have !!!!!!”

“One of these days, You will find that you will want a bus pass, That will be because you will be an Old Phart like us, So Shut It.”

“I have just read the remarks on here going on about pensioners getting free bus passes as the tax payer pays for them. I am a pensioner and I pay both Income Tax and Council Tax so I along with most other pensioners pay for our passes and they are not free.
If someone is getting a little extra out come the green eyed monsters. So stop moaning and get on with your lives. Try and make them happier for yourselves.”

“Why do pensioners think they have a right to free travel when it is the tax payer who has to pay. Also why does the reader Solly, Estover, above think that the bus companies should issue passes out of good will? Private companies should not be propping up failing government policy.”

“My experience is that the majority of people getting the early buses in a morning are pass holders. We are not talking about 9 am or there abouts when the shops open, we are talking about the 6,7,8 oclock buses when 2/3 of the passengers are pass holders which are obviously going to work. They think its free but its not every time I issue a pass holders ticket the Bus Companies get around 75 pence which they claim back off the council. We are in this town among a handful of cities who gave free travel before 0930. All we doing is being brought in line with the rest of the country.”

“Free bus passes was another New Labour idea that was not at all well thought out or thought through in any way at all. We now have a system that is not fit for purpose and not affordable by the taxpayer and the council taxpayer. It cannot be right for bus pass holders to use their passes to park their cars at York park and ride and also travel to Leeds and Scarborough. There are lots of changes required to make it viable and affordable. For a start I think everyone with a pass should pay half fare on all local buses.”

“Surprise Surprise”

“Hello Me, the trouble I was referring to relates to the headlines in the HDM recently about the incident involving the schoolchildren who fell from the school bus window. There were quite a few comments about anti-social behaviour on school buses and having seen solutions to the problem led by Metro and GMPTE I thought I would suggest that Hull should also consider Yellow School Buses.

Running old vehicles is also part of the problem. Give school children a brand new bus to travel on, treat them like grown up commuters and they are more likely to respond in a positive way. If I was to set up a school bus service for instance, I would either opt for Yellow School Buses or perhaps something along the lines of the Indigo run by Trent Barton (The Really Good Bus Company):

http://www.trentbarton.co.uk/indigo

Changing tact slightly, I remain convinced that the future for public transport in Hull and the East Riding rests with the creation of the equivalent of Metro or SYPTE.

Public transport in the East Riding particularly needs a complete and radical overhaul. Too many areas very poorly served, including places such as Hedon, when you look at the Sunday service.

I must admit that living in a PTE area has raised my expectations of what public transport and local authorities could and should be doing for "Humberside". The fact that there is only one bus an hour from Hedon to Hull on Sundays is a joke. To make it worse, the trains to Manchester are only every two hours and neither the buses nor the trains integrate with each other at all.

When I hear passengers on the tram into Manchester complaining that they can't get on the tram because of overcrowding I sometimes feel they should count themselves lucky they have the tram which runs every 6 minutes.

Check these two sites out people. Are you impressed by what they offer compared to what is (not) available here?

ERYC, HCC and the two Lincolnshire Authorities should look at Nexus or Merseytravel's integrated ticketing products. Where is ours?

http://www.nexus.org.uk/travel-information/tickets

http://www.networkonetickets.co.uk/”

“Just reading all this rubbish,You are all from the working class but as soon as this type of thing happens you are all at each others throats. If you believe what any politicians or councillors tell you that tells me you dont know what goes on in the world.I agree that the bus passes should be after 65 years old,but dont forget these people or their husbands have paid into the system.I am a pensioner pushing eighty and was still going to sea at sixty five, I dont mouth off about other peoples problems.
And just to clear the air these so called rich pensioners saved up and paid the bills,”