An expensive mistake?

Along the A6 a it passes through Derbyshire, the observant traveller can see new bus stops with electronic displays:

The display itself looks like this:

The signs have been in position for ages (years rather than months) but have never worked. An enquiry to Derbyshire County Council elicited the information that the funding came from a government grant, and that there was no deadline for successful operation - there are technical difficulties "at the bus end" - and the current position may continue for "some time to come".

I've made a Freedom of Information request to find out how much the project has cost, and when - if ever - it is likely to work.

I'm greatly in favour of good information - where it is useful. I'm not sure that the basic concept here is good: the displays aren't even big enough to show a scrolling display that might convey a really useful message ("the 19.43 has been cancelled" or "the 15.45 is 34 minutes late - catch the next service xxx to Bakewell and change to service xxx there)". Instead, they will just show the number of minutes until the next bus. If the last bus of the day has gone, does it show the number of minutes until the first bus the next day? There doesn't seem to be enough space to show  a value of 720, for example.

Update 2010. My FOI request was answered (after a complaint to the Information Commissioner): the project has cost £324,000 and has resulted in 8 non-working bus stops being errected. There is no date for completion of the project. Details at http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/electronic_bus_stop_displays

NB - I found out what the display "T" means. Not "Testing" as I had guessed, but ... "Look at the timetable".