Students at Luton Sixth Form College have no excuse for missing their bus home any more after the installation of an electronic display board.
The screen, which is located on the wall outside the main entrance at the Bradgers Hill Road college, is the first to be installed at a school or college in the area.
It gives real time information about the 24 and 25 bus routes, which serve nearby Old Bedford Road.
A GPS monitor tracks where the vehicles are on the road – and informs users when they are due to arrive at the bus stops.
Linsey Frostick, regional marketing manager for bus operator Arriva, said: “The display gives you the actual arrival time, rather than the timetabled one. GPS monitors where the buses are, so if a bus is running 10 minutes late, it will show the arrival time at the stop.
“Students can then wait in the warmth and shelter of the college before heading out to the bus stop.”
The display has been provided by Luton Borough Council, and is the result of a long-running campaign by the college’s Student Council.
Student development advisor Butch Fazal said: “We’ve had complaints for a number of years about the efficiency of the bus service, and this year the Student Council pledged to look at the issue.
“We did a survey of 150 students who actually took the bus. An overwhelming majority said the most annoying thing was the punctuality – you could be waiting for five minutes, you could be waiting for half-an-hour.
“We took the results forward to senior management and they were really receptive to what we were saying. In collaboration with senior management and through the work of Altaf Hussain [vice principal], we contacted Arriva and it went from there.”
Mr Fazal said: “The over-riding thing, for me, is how effective partnership working can be if it’s done properly. This has been a partnership between students and senior management here, and Luton Borough Council and Arriva. I believe the display is going to be invaluable to students.”