There is bound to be widespread frustration and disappointment across the district at the news that the bus company First is to increase fares by an average of more than three times the rate of inflation. At a time when a great deal of concern is being expressed about Britain's ability to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and increasing effort is being brought to bear on the need to ease congestion on our roads, it's a real blow to find that on some routes it will now be cheaper to travel by train than by bus.

Buses are meant to be the cheapest and most effective way of carrying large numbers of people short distances, but these latest increases must throw that into question. What is most surprising is the level of the increase, which seems to greatly outstrip inflation and will clearly hit regular travellers in their pockets.

As Councillor Stanley King, chairman of the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Authority, says, increases in bus fares usually lead to a drop in passenger numbers, which is the last thing needed at present.

There can be no doubt that increases in the price of fuel, especially in the volume at which First purchases it, are bound to be damaging to its business, and there is always a need for it to continually improve and upgrade its fleet to encourage more people to see buses as an acceptably clean, comfortable and efficient means of transport. But surely such a huge price hike at one go is difficult to justify even in those terms. All it serves to do is make the image of the bus as an alternative form of transport even less attractive.