It appears that the county council is stepping back from the idea of providing large bendy buses in Oxford’s High Street, linked to an interchange at the Plain.

The idea was always an ambitious — and potentially expensive — one. Added to that, it has run into a lot of opposition, particularly from those who see it as a big disadvantage to people coming into the city from the east.

Instead, the council is now talking about developing a quality partnership with the bus companies. There is nothing new in the idea. It has already been tried and tested in many other places, and there are many who have urged the council to tackle the excesses of bus deregulation in this way before.

New regulations mean that the council has stronger cards to play in its negotiations with the bus companies. It could ultimately enforce a new regime on the buses if the companies do not enter into a voluntary agreement.

What we are talking about here are sensible arrangements for Oxford’s bus system, most of which have long been desired but never achieved.

They include joint ticketing — ie one ticket valid on all services — and co-ordination of timetables so that we do not have buses leapfrogging each other down the road on the same route.

These changes are long overdue in Oxford where efforts to improve the environment in the centre of the city have been hindered by an effective free-for-all on the buses.