Wiltshire County Council is to receive an extra £254,000 to help development of an innovative Real Time Passenger Information system on bus routes radiating out from Salisbury across the county.

The money is part of a national £15million package for local authorities to enable safety schemes, road repairs and traffic management improvements to be completed quickly.

The Government is granting the money in addition to £829,500 that the county council bid for successfully earlier this year.

The Real Time Passenger Information System will allow passengers to see exactly what time their bus will arrive, along with other information about services.

The scheme will make use of the latest satellite tracking technology to provide up-to-the-minute information for passengers waiting at bus stops on routes across the county.

In the future, the information will also be available on the Internet and via WAP phones.

Minister for transport John Spellar said: "It will allow urgent safety and road improvement works to be given priority by authorities and speed progress on a range of large and small scale transport schemes.

"This announcement demonstrates our commit-ment to supporting local government to deliver solutions that make a difference to people's experience of transport."

The news has been greeted warmly by Nick Helps, Wiltshire County Council's local transport plan co-ordinator.

He said: "I am very pleased that our bid for additional funding for this project has been successful. If there are any delays or problems with services, passengers will be able to see immediately how long they will have to wait."

It is expected that the Real Time Passenger Information System will be in place in Salisbury from spring 2003 and on the rest of the routes by late summer 2003.