On a trip to town for a pint with a mate, I arrived at Chorley New Road, apparently just in time to miss the bus.

Realising there would not be another for half-an-hour, I decided to walk.

Then I found that halfway between stops, another bus went sailing by at an unscheduled time. How frustrating.

I can only assume that the first one was an earlier bus that was late and the second one must have been the correct one ­— also late.

In the past, I have tried texting the code number on the bus stop, but it only seems to give you the timetabled version and not what is happening in real time.

In an age of satellite location and instant communication, one would have thought by now that we would have a display at a bus stop giving us the time of the next bus in real time.

Alternatively, there could be a map application on your phone showing the location of buses in real time.

I am told that in some areas such things exist.

Is Bolton not up to it?

Roy Caswell

Beverley Road

Bolton