Fury at high cost of Essex bus timetables

Brentwood's Lib Dem County Councillors David Kendall and Barry Aspinell have slammed the cost of the new Bus Timetable Book which is selling at £13,50 when the last one only cost a £1. Whilst the new book may cover the whole of Essex including Southend and Thurrock, the price will be way to expensive for many bus users, particularly for pensioners on the basic state pension who may have no internet access and who rely heavily on the book for their bus information.

The Lib Dems are also concerned about the weight and size of the new book and the size of the print. Whilst the publishers may have had the best of intentions when producing the book and probably stepped in when no one else wanted to know, it is quite obvious that insufficent research was done on the book's main target market before they went to print.

Cllr Kendall has written to Cllr Derrick Louis (Cabinet Member for Highways) expressing his concerns and has asked for the production and costing of the book to be looked at again. He said

"The County used to heavily subsidise the last timetable book to keep the cost down and I believe they need to do this again. The bus users I have spoken say the new book does not meet their needs and is far too expensive. I hope the County Council will have a rethink on this issue and ensure that something is produced to sell at a reasonable price and better meets their needs".