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21 Feb 2020, 6:14 pm #1,234

(21 Feb 2020, 5:46 pm)Andreos1 I think those two bib highlight exactly what the issue is.
They need to attract people, but it's cheaper and more convenient in the car.

I can't get a direct bus to the metrocentre from my T&W property. Its 3 buses there and the same back, unless its a weekend and I can time my connections with an X88. Then it can be done with one change.

I can be on the A1(M) at Picktree within 5 mins of leaving the house. Granted I'm then at the whims of the Western Bypass, but on a good day I can be there another 10mins later.
To counter streetdeckfans Mams car, I'm getting 55/58 mpg in mine and paying pennies in tax.

For all the WiFi and USB's, there's still no financial incentive or convenience in using the bus.

It's the same if I'm in R&C.
Three buses (needing a multi-operator ticket this time) or the car. But there is the option of the train and it being much quicker than the bus.
Having the railcard makes it cheaper.

I'm reasonably out of touch with parking charges in the NE, though last I remember Newcastle was free after 5?

Up in Aberdeen the main shopping centre is a flat £1.50 after 18:00, with many other parking places free after 19:00. First sell an "evening ticket" for £3 after 19:00 - no real use to anyone with a car as parking is cheaper and the distance First cover nobody is realistically paying more than £1.50 in petrol (bar one route). I guess the hope for bus companies is that people want to have a drink, which rules the car out completely. Then, however, they need to be priced considerably less than a Taxi and be reasonably convenient.

There is no bus from where I live down home to the Metrocentre, I'd have to change at Haymarket/Eldon Square onto another operator - taking my bus fare to nearly £10. In comparison on that journey my car will do about 45mpg, keep me warm, play the music I want through speakers, and smell of whatever air freshner I've got in - and take less than half the time.

Further, myself and majority of the people I know have a reasonably large chunk of mobile data per month so WiFi - which isn't always straightforward to get onto in the first place - becomes obsolete. Plugs, when they work, are handy but who's taking a USB cable with them on an evening out? Surely you stick your phone on charge while getting changed etc from work, and as most phones have quick charging these days that's you up to 50%+ in about half an hour.

Tables are nice, but again, if there's 4/5 of you are you really going to choose the bus over a car if someone is willing to not drink for one evening? There's also the possibility of tables not being available, people listening in on conversations, someone wanting the window open in the middle of December etc...