in response to the changes to the the times and availability of buses in York, this is an ongoing problem because there appears not to be fixed dates on which timetables are changed.

Therefore, a bus timetable merely shows the date it applies from, but not a future date beyond which it ceases to apply.

Rail timetables always show an end date, which alerts people to the fact that they will need a new timetable when the time comes.

Unfortunately, this is not the case with bus timetables. This is not just a York problem, it happens in most places.

The logical solution for York would be to have fixed dates at which timetables are changed, rather than the current, haphazard way of doing things.

This could be twice a year, or annually.

Each timetable would declare the validity dates from and to, and people would be alerted to when future changes would be introduced.

This requires discipline on the part of the bus operator and its planning organisation. However, once that discipline were established, so that all changes took place on the same date, it would actually make life simpler for all; the operators, and the users.

I also suggest we have a timetable book incorporating all the buses operating in and through York.

This too, like the all-lines rail timetable, would operate to fixed dates.

Uncertainty about service operation is a serious disincentive to people "risking" to use buses.

David M Copeland,

Ridgeway,

Acomb, York.

Updated: 11:07 Wednesday, September 15, 2004