WAITING for a bus will soon be less frustrating in North Yorkshire.

Harrogate and District Travel, which serves five million customers a year, will shortly complete a scheme to bring instant information about its buses directly to the bus stops.

Illuminated signs are being provided to display the arrival time of the next two or three buses via a computer link.

It is part of a passenger information system being fitted to key bus stops and the company's entire fleet of 60 buses. It is costing £400,000.

A spokesman for the company said: "The initiatives will work alongside the more conventional ways of communicating information, such as reliable bus stop timetable information with clear, easy-to-read timetable leaflets."

In addition to the bus stop information panels, display screens on buses will give details about the next stop, its location and any places of interest.

The system should be completed soon, but meanwhile the company is still relying on "old technology" to hear from its customers.

"We still need customers' ideas and suggestions on ways we can improve our services," said a spokesman.

To get more feeback from passengers, the company has issued comment cards to every local household.