I do hope Chris Boswell (Oxford Mail, August 2) was pulling our legs when he suggested we "do away with" buses.

The No 10 bus route, which I use regularly, takes in the John Radcliffe Hospital, Wood Farm, Horspath Road, Templars Square, Rymers Lane and Cowley Road to the city centre.

It carries a good hotch-potch of passengers and so far, I have never sat next to a smelly OAP. I might be one myself, but no-one has complained yet.

The people I meet on the bus are a good mix -- friendly, silent, mobile phone users, small babies who smile at me, mothers who show me the lovely clothes they have bought for their little ones, some people with crutches heading for the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre and hopefully, good news, elderly men and women with anxious expressions who are visiting their spouses.

Then there are young people with violins and guitars, artists with their wide loads, a mixture of nationalities who need me to smile (it costs nothing).

The times to avoid are before 9am (I can't use my bus pass until 9am) and from 3-6pm, when first schoolchildren rule OK, then people heading home from work care for no-one but themselves.

Are you in this group, Mr Boswell? If you are, I understand your grumbles.

Instead of moaning, get your pen out and design a bus and car which doesn't belch fumes every time it stops.

At least bus passengers don't throw their rubbish out of the windows every time the bus stops.

As usual, your paper gives us all plenty to think about.

MARY STIFF

Corunna Crescent,

Cowley, Oxford