MAY I express (yes, every pun clearly intended!) my thanks to the citizens of Worcester for their terrific response to the new Express bus service.

To have increased passenger numbers by almost one-and-a-half times in the first week alone is a great achievement and the best of all possible starts.

But beyond that, it's also a major tribute to the local community willing to do something about Worcester's congestion problems, and as the county councillor charged with preserving the environment, I warmly applaud that response.

Despite local passenger transport always being an emotive subject, your comments via the Letters pages have been, for the most part, highly encouraging, while for those of you who have voiced misgivings based on fact or experience, I offer the guarantee that those queries either have been or are being addressed right now.

In view of the first two weeks' successes, I'm now in the happy position of being able to publicly underline my all-out confidence in the Worcester Express service and am proud to say that I'm convinced that we can not only maintain those increases but can also actively build on them.

If we remain at the first week's 134 per cent-up for the next 12 months, then we shall have pulled-off a feat that's little short of amazing.

Even so, my money is on increasing that figure even further between now and the end of 2006 - by which time we'll be well down the route of making Worcester a nationwide model in the field of public transport and reaping the benefits of helping protect this fine city of ours from the ravages of traffic congestion, snarl-ups and pollution.

For that, the credit is yours and I hope that we will all continue to go from success to success.

JOHN SMITH,

County Council Cabinet member for the Environment,

County Hall, Worcester.