No progress has been made in a number of initiatives that would make buses more accessible to the public, according to the city's Labour Group transport spokesperson. Coun. Ruth Potter was commenting following long-standing attempts by Labour to explore both cross-ticketing - a ticketing system whereby people can purchase one ticket and use it with different bus operators - and extending the YoZone card so that those aged 16-19 and in education are eligible to use it.

She said:

"Sadly there is not the will within the council to seriously tackle this issue, so in the meantime local people are being turned off using the bus. The Executive Member for City Strategy has batted away the idea of cross-ticketing on the basis that we may see a Smartcard system introduced in the years to come. That is not good enough, as it could be years away if it ever happens at all. With a growing number of new operators providing services on certain bus routes, it is even more important now that cross-ticketing is seriously explored.

"People who rely on the bus in certain areas, for example in Heworth, are now many, many pounds worse off each month due to having to use another operator as well as First to get to and from work. That is not competition, and for the passenger it is a worse situation than before when First had a complete monopoly on local services as it is costing them more to travel around the city".

And Coun. Potter said efforts to extend the YoZone card to 16 to 19 year olds in full time education has been given short shrift from local bus bosses. She argues that those in full time education cannot afford full cost travel, nor should they have to. She thinks that the extension of the card rather than decreasing income, could increase it as more young people use the bus.

"Students at York college are paying more than students attending the universities in the city to use First buses and I think that's a disgrace", she said. "I don't believe this is just an anomaly with the system, as proven by the fact that First has declined to adopt this extension to the YoZone card. Once again the city is not meeting its own commitment to prioritise other forms of transport than the car, by making bus travel prohibitively expensive for those who can ill-afford it".