Public transport is the missing piece in the regeneration puzzle.

First Potteries, a bus company with an approach to PR that leaves almost everything to be desired, have announced that ticket prices are to rise.

Fares are set to go up by between 10p and £1 on 9th December, passengers using the mTickets phone app will not be affected. The fare paid by holders of concessionary passes using the bus before 9:30 will also rise from £1.60 to £2.00.

Speaking to the Sentinel Sarah East, director of operations for First said that although some dates have been ' revised' the day ticket offered by the company was still value for money and that there were improved discounts for travellers under 16.

She was at pains to extol the virtues of the ticket app, saying that it is ' easy to download, fill in a few details and away you go'.

Adding that buying tickets in this way ' makes using the bus not only cost effective, but also more convenient and helps quicken up journey tines'.

There is a case for saying that whatever end of the stick bus passengers are given it tends to turn out to be the dirty one. Every so often, just to break the monotony, it gets used to cash them over the head too.

If you look past the bright talk about apps and promises of a discount here and an allowance, there this looks like another instance of an all too familiar story.

Public transport in this city has been stuck in a time warp for decades, with often third hand buses rattling around the six towns following routes that get cut in an annual sacrifice to the cruel god of efficiency.

It doesn't have to be like this; if we want regeneration to be a reality instead of a pipe dream something has got to change.

Since 2015 the City Independent led coalition has talked a good game about changing the city's image and with it our fortunes too. Bidding to be the UK City of Culture or home and the new home of Channel 4 have, though both were unsuccessful, paid a dividend in positive PR.

That Stoke-on-Trent hasn't got an integrated public transport system as the twenty first century trundles into its second decade is the missing piece in the regeneration puzzle.

Other cities, Nottingham for example, manage the trick of getting busses and trains to link up and have revived team systems that vanished years ago. Why can't we do the same?

Part of the problem is a lack of leadership, Labour took the city's voters for granted for too long, meaning they had no incentive to do anything other than what they'd always done. Since 2015 the City Independents have consistently put the cart before the horse, getting distracted by projects like building luxury hotels and apartments for young professionals that won't work without a decent transport network bring in place first.

Nationally things have been no better, public transport hazardous never had a minister with the vision and strength of character necessary to drive through modernisation. The current incumbent, Chris Grayling, is a politician so shockingly inept it is a wonder his antics aren't accompanied by a laughter track.

North Staffs Green Party has consistently spoken about the need to build an interconnected transport system for Stoke-on-Trent. We have worked with partners including the Pensioners Convention to put forward a workable plan for building one

Recently other parties have expressed similar aspirations, there is truly more rejoicing over one MP who repents than a dozen candidates who believed all along, so we welcome their joining the fight. This is an issue too important to be bound up in partisan infighting.

The difference is we will continue talking about how we need trains, busses and trams that work together; safer cycling routes and more opportunities to walk instead of drive long after the political agenda has moved on.

We know that it is more important to do what is right and necessary than what gets you a headline in tomorrow's papers. That is why we will stick with the fight to improve local transport infrastructure until Stoke has the quality network it deserves.