Gateshead Central Taxis
Gateshead Central Taxis
(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.
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(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.
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(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