Pricing
Pricing
If bus companies want to get people out their cars, in my opinion, they should be focusing on journeys which car users are likely to make, in order to temp them in.
Surely car users are more likely to catch a bus to Chester-le-Street, from Barley Mow (a 5 minute journey) to do a bit of shopping, providing the price is right, as opposed to get the bus into Newcastle, which would mean they're sat on a bus for ever and a day.
The pricing structure needs to reflect that, make it as cheap as you possibly can to catch a bus to the next town, CLS in this instance, and surely you will see passenger growth?
The pricing structure for single journeys is dire, and car users are never going to use the bus if it costs them £2.30 for a 5 minute journey.