WITH free travel for over-60s and environmental issues rife, the need for accurate local travel information is more important than ever before.

We were told that when the bus information office closed, local timetables would be available from libraries.

Does this mean that all library staff will be travel experts?

Excluding the bus information office, the only two locations I've found with local bus timetables are York Hospital and York College.

However, the two separate bus timetable racks at York Hospital have assorted out-of-date timetables.

York College is even worse and I recently saw displayed out-of-date First York and Coastliner timetables.

Worse still, a 1990s bus route map was proudly displayed in a case in the reception area. Not only were practically all bus route numbers wrong, but many routes had changed and some no longer even existed, such as those to Usher Park, Haxby.

Many weeks after I reported this map, it was still on display and was only finally removed from display after I made multiple phone calls.

I have long believed that no information is better than wrong information. However, although it is good that York Hospital, York College and possibly, in future, local libraries will stock timetables, it is understandable that staff at these places will have no idea when services change.

With at least 12 different bus service operators in York we should all severely mourn the closure of the City of York Council bus office.

Francis Thackway, Micklegate, York.