But the problems begin...

But the problems begin when passengers don"t even begin to cover the true cost of their buses, fuel, servicing and repairs, drivers, administrators and multi-millionaire company bosses. Bizarrely though, still they expect priority over me and my car.

The time is right for me to publicly ask what I"ve been privately asking for years: how does a comparatively tiny group of bus travellers who don"t fully pay their way deserve preferential treatment over 50 million car occupants who do?

The busy and successful businessman employing thousands in the UK, paying millions in tax and pumping even more into the domestic economy by purchasing a British-built car, is - on the road at least - treated as second class. Conversely, the chap taking a bus ride doesn"t quite get the red carpet treatment, but he does get his own red bus lane.

Then there are doctors and nurses who drive to work, trying to arrive on time to save lives. They"re the most valuable members of society, but they are forced into narrow, inadequate travel corridors they must share with vans and trucks. Yet holiday makers from overseas with time on their hands are allowed to travel in adjacent VIP bus lanes. This is clearly insane.

Even the driver of an empty, out of service bus returning to its depot has priority over, say, a worried car-driving parent who"s desperate to collect a young child. In short, a bus with or without passengers is fast-tracked and takes precedence over the occupants of cars, vans and trucks, who are intentionally delayed and discriminated against.

Figures just published by the Government"s National Audit Office show that for many years, "the number of bus journeys has continued to decline in all regions". It adds that Government plans to reverse the decline in bus use and achieve growth in every area are "challenging" or "unlikely".

Why? Because people have raised their standards. They know that they can travel door-to-door 24 hours a day in a clean, warm car with a stereo and a seatbelt. Alternatively, they can take the draughty bus with no sound system or safety restraints. Passengers are picked up from one graffiti-stained bus stop and shunted to another.

As I said, if you"re part of the minority that"s into buses and bus stops, fine. But for the rest of us who make up the overwhelming majority of the population, we"ve already demonstrated to the Government that we don"t like their buses or their greedy, subsidised entrepreneurial bus operators.