(19 Sep 2020, 8:43 am)V514DFT No idea how true this is but a fellow parent whos child go's to the same school as my son has said that theres 1 specific 335 that doesnt turn up,think its the one round about 3pm (ish) that he said,like said no idea how true it is or if its even true at all,i very rarely use it myself,last time i did use it was back in May,and even then it was a different time and was also going in the other direction,anywho apart from that i had a little suggestion
What about scrapping the 319 to Jarrow and either extending the 333 or 335?

(19 Sep 2020, 10:17 am)V514DFT Tbh,i'd rather just see GNE gain back the services they lost

(19 Sep 2020, 10:45 am)Adrian I can't see it happening, unless Nexus change their 'race to the bottom' mentality towards procurement. Quality barely comes into it, due to its weighting compared to price.

(19 Sep 2020, 12:43 pm)Storx On paper are GCT actually any worse than GNE in terms of quality though. Their vehicles are mostly newer, they have the same features (none of GNE secured Solos have anything) and didn't someone say awhile back that some now have USB's fitted (I might be dreaming there).

I'm not sure how the procurement system works but I can't imagine they can downgrade them for their service as in the main it's not really that bad, I'm sure GNE would've had a few missed runs aswell or not to the stage that it severly impacts them ratings wise anyway.

GCT get it hard on here, no-one ever gives them credit for the fact they've got 20 plate Enviro's running around and even the bread vans are new whether you like them or not (that's a different debate), they're certainly no-where near as bad as some make out on here and some of the other independents we've had in the past running around with complete tat.

Also it's not Nexus' and the tax payers job to top up big corporates to run the services which they don't feel like running as it doesn't suit them (GNE in particular) to whoever said give GNE them back. They're welcome to run their own routes any time they like.

(19 Sep 2020, 3:35 pm)citaro5284 Quality needs to be quantified more than just vehicles thou imo.  You could argue that Nexus should be mandating others things in their contracts like contactless payments and real time information when dishing out of their tenders.

My local routes are ran by Arriva Blyth, and their app (until recently) was a god send.  Not having to wait at a bus stop wondering if the bus was going to arrive is a thing of the past and how many people now a days carries much money around with them.  I do not think I have paid anything in cash for about 3 to 4 month now.  

We are in 2020 now, and both the things mentioned should be just standard, unfortunately for passengers of routes operated by GCT, they just dont have it - which is a shame, but this is also where Nexus need to step up to the plate.

(19 Sep 2020, 3:46 pm)Storx Yeah both valid points, it was an open question that tbf I don't know anything about GCT they just seem to get attacked a lot as if they're running around with 15 year old darts etc. I never realised they didn't accept contactless but surely it can't be too hard to impliment they use the same ticketer ticket machines as the big 3 I believe.

I'm Arriva Blyth aswell and totally agree about the app though (it's a bit crap now mind) totally useful when the expresses like to run 10 minutes late at peak times but this is something I'd like to see from NECA / Nexus and is something which they should be doing imo. It would be really nice to have a place when you can check real time buses and also get timetables for all the operators in the North East or at least right now within Tyne and Wear rather than having to get the GNE app, get the Arriva app, does Stagecoach do it at all? not sure etc. Shame they're pretty crap and are too focused on their own Metro which is also crap.

(19 Sep 2020, 8:43 am)V514DFT No idea how true this is but a fellow parent whos child go's to the same school as my son has said that theres 1 specific 335 that doesnt turn up,think its the one round about 3pm (ish) that he said,like said no idea how true it is or if its even true at all,i very rarely use it myself,last time i did use it was back in May,and even then it was a different time and was also going in the other direction,anywho apart from that i had a little suggestion
What about scrapping the 319 to Jarrow and either extending the 333 or 335?

(19 Sep 2020, 12:43 pm)Storx On paper are GCT actually any worse than GNE in terms of quality though. Their vehicles are mostly newer, they have the same features (none of GNE secured Solos have anything) and didn't someone say awhile back that some now have USB's fitted (I might be dreaming there).

I'm not sure how the procurement system works but I can't imagine they can downgrade them for their service as in the main it's not really that bad, I'm sure GNE would've had a few missed runs aswell or not to the stage that it severly impacts them ratings wise anyway.

GCT get it hard on here, no-one ever gives them credit for the fact they've got 20 plate Enviro's running around and even the bread vans are new whether you like them or not (that's a different debate), they're certainly no-where near as bad as some make out on here and some of the other independents we've had in the past running around with complete tat.

Also it's not Nexus' and the tax payers job to top up big corporates to run the services which they don't feel like running as it doesn't suit them (GNE in particular) to whoever said give GNE them back. They're welcome to run their own routes any time they like.

(19 Sep 2020, 3:57 pm)Dan Bit of a sweeping statement but I’m friends with a few Gateshead Central Taxis employees on Facebook and there seems to be a shortage of ticket machines since their award of a lot of contracts this year.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

(19 Sep 2020, 3:57 pm)Dan Bit of a sweeping statement but I’m friends with a few Gateshead Central Taxis employees on Facebook and there seems to be a shortage of ticket machines since their award of a lot of contracts this year.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

(19 Sep 2020, 4:03 pm)6049 I'm all for offering best value to tax payers, however that also needs to be reflected in value to customers. I know in Washington, GCT fares are slightly cheaper than GNE, however the issue is that most already have bought day tickets on the GNE services. I've heard of a number of occasions where passengers with day tickets have been forced to pay when they should be accepting the tickets. On top of this, every GNE bus is equipped with contactless payment facility. Once the service is secured however and GCT take over, there is no such facility. The NSA's etc offered on board of most GNE services are also a feature which is not  replicated. Like or loathe them, they are definitely a helpful feature especially on dark nights.

The buses they have as a rule are slightly newer but is this really a factor which should be considered apart from in terms of Euro emissions standards?

Most importantly in my opinion is the redundancy - if there is an issue on one of the GNE vehicles, a replacement will be sourced and deployed ASAP. I have heard of services being absent all night due to a breakdown although I confess this is hearsay so please don't take that comment as gospel. It's even down to the tracking (as previously mentioned in another reply) and the social media alerts. I know not everyone has access to Facebook or Twitter but at least those who do can check to see whether or not there is an issue en route and can make alternative arrangements if there is a delay or breakdown.

In regards to the breadvans, I believe that on the Washington services, they do not have the required capacity to fulfill the contract requirements. I have lost count of the times that there's been at least one breadvan out on a night. The other day, one of the ADLs was running round with a broken front blind (showing NIS on the rear and side) with 82 printed on a sheet on A4 stuck to the front windscreen.

I'm not trying to knock them, however, I strongly believe that a secured service should be like for like with what is run during the day - I.e. with the required capacity (especially in terms of fulfilling the contract), NSA's would be nice but not essential. However, most importantly in the current climate there should be the facility to pay by contactless.

Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk

(19 Sep 2020, 3:35 pm)citaro5284 Quality needs to be quantified more than just vehicles thou imo.  You could argue that Nexus should be mandating others things in their contracts like contactless payments and real time information when dishing out of their tenders.

My local routes are ran by Arriva Blyth, and their app (until recently) was a god send.  Not having to wait at a bus stop wondering if the bus was going to arrive is a thing of the past and how many people now a days carries much money around with them.  I do not think I have paid anything in cash for about 3 to 4 month now.  

We are in 2020 now, and both the things mentioned should be just standard, unfortunately for passengers of routes operated by GCT, they just dont have it - which is a shame, but this is also where Nexus need to step up to the plate.

(19 Sep 2020, 4:52 pm)Andreos1 I think the question needs to be asked about GCT and why they haven't grabbed all of the funding the bigger boys have and implemented the avl, contactless technology etc. It's been sitting there for long enough and allowed the bigger boys the unique position of having it as a marketing tool.
It's not as if the bigger boys have anything unique other than a team of people who have successfully applied for dft funding.

There's a deadline approaching for the Bus Open Data Service (unless it's been changed due to covid). Maybe we will see GCT have the same equipment as others over the next few months?

(19 Sep 2020, 6:24 pm)Adrian NESTI supported smart ticketing machines for smaller operators - GCT is specifically mentioned in this article: https://www.nesti.org.uk/nesti-news/successful-nesti-pilots-open-day-event

But from what I've understood previously, the vast majority of on board technology - AVL, Plug (or USB) sockets, WiFi, etc, has been at operators own expense. According to the fleet list, GNE for example have 480 out of 686 buses fitted with free WiFi. Even if the installation of that was supported by public money, I very much doubt the ongoing cost of providing the service is. Even if each bus used 10GB of data a month on average, that's 4.8TB of data they're getting billed for. 

Open data deadlines are the end of the year / early January - https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/bus-open-data-service

(06 Oct 2020, 7:29 pm)park5354 Service 335 now accepts Contactless payment,  with the new machines only being used on E200's that are allocated to 335.  The other 'new' machines have also been contactless enabled, and contactless payment is now accepted on any service that has a new machine, but ONLY service 335 is guaranteed to have Contactless.

• YX61BYK
  
• YX61BJO
  
• YX61BJU - MOT expired 2 January 2020
  
• YX12CHN - MOT expired 15 September 2020
  
• YT63TNX
  
• SF14HAA - MOT expired 4 October 2020
  
• SF14HAE - withdrawn, fire damage (MOT expired 5 September 2020).
  
• SF14HAO - MOT expired 1 October 2020
  
• SF65ARO
  
• SJ17ZCU
  
• SJ17ZCV
  
• SJ17ZCX - MOT expired 6 October 2020
  
• BF18YRW
  
• BF18YRX
  
• SJ18USE
  
• SJ18UTG
  
• SG19HOA
  
• SJ19PNK
  
• SJ19PGE - from a photo on Facebook suggests this vehicle is now a spare parts donor?
  
• SJ19PGF
  

• LN20OPK
  
• LN20OPL
  
• LN20OPM
  
• LN20OPO
  

• YJ64DYS
  
• YJ64DYT
  
• YJ64DTU
  
• YJ64DYV
  
• YJ64DYW
  
• YJ18DLE
  
• YJ18DLF
  

• SL16YPE - MOT expired 18 August 2020, but photos on Facebook show the vehicle in service on 20 August, 27 August and 3 September 2020 - attached is the example uploaded by Ian Hardie on the North East Bus Enthusiasts Facebook group, showing the vehicle in service on 3 September 2020?
  
• SK67FMY
  
• SK19EYH
  

• YX20OCF
  
• YX20OCG
  
• YX20OCH
  
• YX20OCJ
  
• YX20OCK
  
• YX20OCL
  
• YX20OCM
  
• YX20OCN
  

SL16YPE-200903.jpg
Size 224.14 KB / Downloads 37

(13 Oct 2020, 12:19 pm)Dan Streetlites:

• SL16YPE - MOT expired 18 August 2020, but photos on Facebook show the vehicle in service on 20 August, 27 August and 3 September 2020 - attached is the example uploaded by Ian Hardie on the North East Bus Enthusiasts Facebook group, showing the vehicle in service on 3 September 2020?
  

(13 Oct 2020, 2:00 pm)streetdeckfan At the time it was in service, I'd have given them them the benefit of the doubt and put it down to the delay in the MOT being updated online, but with it still showing as expired it looks a bit dodgy.

There's also photos on Flickr of it being in service on the 8th, 15th and 29th September

(13 Oct 2020, 2:03 pm)Dan ..and another on 4 October 2020 (also doesn't seem to be an ops disc in this one either - compared to an earlier photo in March 2019):

Gateshead Central Taxis Streetlight SL16 YPE seen here on Sunday service 42A by Micheal Parker, on Flickr

Gateshead Taxis SL16 YPE by kian nesworthy, on Flickr