PASSENGERS in Worcestershire will have to make do with old-fashioned timetables at bus stops because digital displays would cost too much.

Worcestershire County Council transport officers eventually want to install a real-time system – similar to the one operating on the London Underground – but say it is not feasible at the moment, given the current funding situation.

The system would involve digital displays at each stop, telling passengers precisely when the next service was due. It would cost more than £7.5 million just to install the electronic displays at all 3,752 bus stops across the county.

To link every bus up to the system would cost a further £500 per vehicle, while data charges and maintenance costs would also be added.

But Andy Baker, the county council’s integrated transport manager, told the council’s environment and economy panel that he could see the merits of such a system.

“It is so reassuring and that is something we are currently looking at,” he said. “We are considering looking at funding routes for this so we can try to start somewhere.

“It is where we want to go but it is a question of funding.”

Meanwhile, the current provision in place – timetables at bus stops, including the introduction of a new text system whereby users can get a bus timetable sent to their mobile phone – has been criticised.

Instead of displaying timetables for all the bus companies on each stop, some simply direct passengers to a text number, which they can contact for information.

Councillor Peter McDonald said he had used the service when a bus he was waiting for was running late.

However, he was left less than impressed because he said he was simply sent the timetable which was printed at the stop.

“I think it is an absolute nonsense,” he said. “I wasted a text, only for it to tell me what I had just read. It’s foolishness.”

However, Mr Baker said the text system was a useful tool for a lot of other users.

“I would estimate that 50 per cent of the stops haven’t got timetable information,” he said.