Go North East: Upcoming Service Changes

Adrian

9,584

25 Nov 2014, 10:34 pm #486

I really wasn't going to add anything further, but having read over the thread a few times, there are a few points from the last 24 hours that I'd like to add to.

(25 Nov 2014, 12:00 pm)marxistafozzski I can accept that Dan and GNE cant keep everyone happy all the time...

Instead of hanging around bus stations, they could get out into the communities, hold public forums with the public invited along for tea and biscuits, talk with local parish councils, shit like that if it is possible, in bus station yesterday didnt seem to do much, people have somewhere to go so may not have a great deal of time to hang around and talk...

I will reserve judgment from now till I see the feedback from the consultation...

Bus companies are damned if they do, damned if they dont...

For me, I dont think I have been too critical about GNE in the past, if I believe they do something right I will say so, on the flip side, If I aint happy, again I will say so

Having seen what Kuyoyo posted for the Stockton forum, I do think it's a crying shame that we don't have one for Tyne and Wear. A proper and impartial forum, which can be used to share views, discuss concerns, and would allow operators to consult. Maybe it's waiting for someone to try and set something up, but of course it would only work with stakeholder buy in.

(25 Nov 2014, 12:06 pm)cbma06 The problem with the GNE consultation yesterday and the poor turn out, the fact is that there were only 1 to 3 GNE reps there with a plain brown table which looked like a table from the canteen or something with some plain sheets of paper and about 10 pens, there was nothing jumping out towards passengers saying that this is a GNE consulation for proposed bus changes, there was no back drop with the GNE logo, nothing to entice children over with their parents ( like free branded pens, balloons etc... what stagecoach/nexus gives out) or have any kind of proposed routes on a map on a background, while I was at the Interchange yesterday for an hour only a tiny handful of passengers did go over to talk to them. it was badly organised. a lot of passengers coming round from the Grangetown bus stops were just walking past as their wouldn't know. The passengers coming off the 20 wouldn't know because most of them would be heading straight down towards the town itself, the display should of been between service 20 stand and X35 stand. GNE most have some kind of background with their logo on it somewhere in one of their depots or even at riverside offices.

The last time sunderland had a consulation with service 20 included, their proposed that service 20 was going to South Shields, and when the changes happened service 20 wasn't touched.

With the first time this has been done, I'd suggest that it was always going to be a lessons learnt exercise to a degree. I do take your point though, and I know when we've had similar, we've always had the 'stall' designed from a marketing perspective. We've even had people there solely to catch people's attention. I'm surprised this didn't happen, given the achievements of marketing a lot of the bus launches. Green Angels, The Key, Drifter and even the street MC with the Cobalt Clippers spring to mind!

Like I'd mentioned yesterday though, I'm sure they'll get back to the drawing board, and we'll see something a lot more presentable next time.

(25 Nov 2014, 12:17 pm)Andreos1 If a representative from the company feels as though the comments about the company are wrong or factually incorrect - then surely they can report them?
If the representative from the company feels the comments about the company do have weight, do have merit or there is something behind the posts - then surely they can act on them?
If the representative is bored and no longer wishes to comment - then no matter how much back patting or ego massaging they get, then they will leave. One commented on how much he loved to troll a certain member on here.

One insider (BFK?) was pilloried when he admitted that the Renown with the dodgy reverse select was allocated to the 2a/c - when umpteen posters prior had identified the other routes it could have operated on, without the need to select reverse.
Whilst I have no idea whether it was related, he seemed to disappear/vanish soon after this.
Should people not comment or pass judgement incase an insider decides to no longer post?

Whilst appreciative of insider information, I don't think the board should withhold genuine and fair comment - 'just in-case'.
Remember, it works both ways and one or two insiders have dished out quite a bit towards members on here - some of it unwarranted, untrue and uncalled for.

Yes - there's a reporting mechanism for anyone to report questionable content.

To touch upon something Fozz has said earlier, I do think every company (that provides a service - not just bus operators) is damned if they do, and damned if they don't. It's pretty much an impossible task to keep everyone happy, and you're always going to have a variety of opinions. I could go into work and bitch on about my energy supplier, about the council wanting 20 quid to take my garden waste away, or anything else. I would bet there'd be that same variety of opinions there. I had wrote earlier that I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing, and I stand by that. Opinion in debate is great, but I think great debate is sometimes overshadowed by either sweeping statements, or what turns into bickering.

Dan had pointed out earlier in the thread that the points contained within a post (that someone has gone to the effort to write up), can be ignored outright. I do feel there is a lot of truth in that. I've been guilty of it myself, and I think that most of us can say that we've done the same. To touch upon something you had said in opening your post though, I would hope that members would not post something that they know is wrong or factually incorrect.

There are many members of the forum that are employees of the big three operators. It's understandable if their views sway towards the business aspect of the operation, and ultimately the longevity of employment. At the same time, it's worth us remembering that the majority will be restricted by Social Media policies, by fact of how much they can say in the public domain, without it breaching commercial confidence. These members are coming to the forum in their own time, and providing us with information that we otherwise wouldn't have.

At the same time, there are also many members of the forum that are not employees of the big three operators, and will have a massive variety of views, and will come from all different backgrounds on the political spectrum - we're all politically aligned, whether we like it or not! There are those who are fanatic about the operation of a bus operator, and are massively interested in how the business works and grows. There are those who are old enough to remember the PTE days, and have a like for like comparison against how things are today, and finally there are those who like buses, but are constantly speaking from a customer perspective.

With all this in mind, I'd hope people can appreciate what a massive task it is to try and keep everyone happy, and to strike a balance. Despite having admins and moderators on the forum, it's extremely rare that those privileges are used, and I can't think of a single time that they've been used in order to revoke someone's right to an opinion. There have been times questionable content has been posted, but we've resolved it by dropping the poster a quick message. The community rules have always been simply put, and heavily rely on self moderation.

Liam and Dan have put a lot of personal time and effort into NEB themselves, and I honestly feel that the site provides something that isn't available anywhere else. We provide a regular news piece that is sharp turning into a news archive, we provide fleet lists that even include vehicle history. It's all good and well, until it gets to a point where nobody wants to talk to us, and there's always going to be a danger of that happening. Hence it being important to retain a balance.

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