So, Marc Bichtemann of First York says he is sorry and is going to fix things (The Press, November 1). Well Marc, having seen the new timetable that you propose for the service 12 from December 1, things look like they are going from bad to worse.

Departure times and the interval between departures from Stonebow to Monks Cross will vary, with no standard departure time. Depending on the time of day the interval between departures will be anything between 31 and 42 minutes so trying to remember the time of your next bus will be worse than memorising your times tables. The same is true at most other stops with the only semblance of a regular interval of departure being at either terminus. I have had a look at some of the other ‘retimed’ services and they seem to share the same erratic scheduling.

How is it that your rivals can accomplish a simple, regular, schedule and you cannot? How is it that you can promise ‘standard’ departure times for evening services but not for daytime ones? One can only assume that these times were picked with no consideration for passengers but to further reduce drivers’ overtime.

If you add the likely delays caused by York’s ongoing traffic problems it is likely that no one will have a clue when the next bus is due. Not many stops out of the city centre have one of these lovely displays that tell us this so a paper timetable will be essential. Let’s hope that plenty are available.

Mike Longhurst,

Pottery Lane, York