I AM writing to encourage the council’s participation in public ownership of our bus services.

I read with enthusiasm the reports from Manchester of the latest move for them to take their buses back into public ownership.

Andy Burnham is to cap Greater Manchester bus fares at £2 a journey.

Being aware of the challenges facing public transport delivery in the rural county of Herefordshire, I appreciate that to adopt a Manchester approach in one go would not be achievable or affordable in Hereford, as much as we would want it.

Therefore, I suggest that the way forward would be a graduated approach and the building of public/private/third sector partnerships.

Herefordshire have historically created hands-off companies to run various services, such as Halo and Hoople.

There is no reason this cannot be done with the transport system, and within the integration, there should at least be discussions with the railway companies.

Meanwhile, the local initiatives must not be forgotten but integrated also into new provision, I applaud their efforts in keeping our sustainability.

AMELIA WASHBOURNE

Hereford

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