(26 Oct 2020, 12:37 pm)Andreos1 wrote [ -> ]I think that we are living in the legacy of a number of factors. Some political, some fed by the media, those changes to working habits and some because of the operational decisions made by operators.
There's no way operators could have predicted this sort of pandemic and I applaud the way they have reacted and responded in the way of introducing additional services where required.
However, I do think the way single ticket pricing has increased, hub & spoke models have seen changes to routes and the hours which depots are seemingly restricted to operationally, has a part to play.
Like you, my car is in the garage today. I've used courtesy cars in the recent past as public transport just wasn't viable and has proven extremely expensive or not feasible due to journey times. Today I was fortunate that MrsC was able to bring me home using her car.
It is all fine and well having fancy buses (which have the same facilities as the majority of cars). But if the journey time, pricing and operational hours don't suit people, they ain't going to use them for work, pleasure or after dropping the car off at the garage.
As for the covid19 stuff, I do think operators need to look at how they can grow numbers quickly and aggressively in the current situation.
Having lesser spotted bus hygienists and fog spray is just a part of changing people's mindsets. Regardless of how good it may be.
And the problem with trying to lure people back is that under our current tier or higher (which we're bound to end up in, despite tyneside's numbers dropping) is that we're currently advised to only use public transport for essential journeys only, where there is no alternative.
I sat in the pub yesterday in Newcastle watching the world go by and notice SNE GNE and ANE all seemed to be busy leaving the city centre, ok not full but all had passengers into double figures. Then on the way home I was chatting to the driver of my transport and said he'd work the previous night and on six runs had a total of 2 passengers!. And i was the only one on the bus till I got home. Maybe a less frequent service on a night time might be the next step.
(27 Oct 2020, 1:43 pm)Rob44 wrote [ -> ]I sat in the pub yesterday in Newcastle watching the world go by and notice SNE GNE and ANE all seemed to be busy leaving the city centre, ok not full but all had passengers into double figures. Then on the way home I was chatting to the driver of my transport and said he'd work the previous night and on six runs had a total of 2 passengers!. And i was the only one on the bus till I got home. Maybe a less frequent service on a night time might be the next step.
Short term, I do think that is the most effective option.
Longer term, I think the impact on public transport will only be a negative one.
We've seen services on an evening slowly reduce or get farmed out by nexus as operators don't see enough money in running these services.
It's like an ongoing race to the bottom. Cutting or reducing to save money, allocating smaller or lower spec vehicles to increase their bsog support etc.
If and when this whole covid19 thing ends, passengers or potential passengers will have found alternatives if their services have ended or reduced in frequency.
I can't see the majority returning to public transport if they've invested in a car or found out that taxis are cheaper and often more convenient.
I do think operators need to be creative and need to think about how to increase the popularity of those quieter services on an evening.
(27 Oct 2020, 2:32 pm)Andreos1 wrote [ -> ]I do think operators need to be creative and need to think about how to increase the popularity of those quieter services on an evening.
Which is what I think you have seen Go North East starting to begin thinking about, with new 24-hour ticketing options and evening tickets (including group tickets).
(27 Oct 2020, 3:44 pm)Dan wrote [ -> ]Which is what I think you have seen Go North East starting to begin thinking about, with new 24-hour ticketing options and evening tickets (including group tickets).
The main thing that always stopped me using buses on an evening is the terrible layover times.
Every time I got the X21 up, there wouldn't be enough time to walk round to catch the 49 so I'd end up getting a lift instead of waiting.
Same when I would get the bus back down on a night, I'd get the X21 to Bishop, and have a 40 minute wait in the freezing cold for the 6 to Tindale.
(27 Oct 2020, 3:44 pm)Dan wrote [ -> ]Which is what I think you have seen Go North East starting to begin thinking about, with new 24-hour ticketing options and evening tickets (including group tickets).
As good as they may be, I'd argue that its only a small part of the evening and weekend offer.
It's no good offering those tickets, if connections or services are limited, journeys need planning with military precision and punters can't use them effectively or in a manner which they don't feel as though they're getting vfm.
I've almost bought an evening ticket in the past.
As the last through X1 left before the event I was attending, finished, I didn't bother buying the ticket or using public transport at all.
Appreciate that is just me. But if the pattern or trend is repeated elsewhere with other services, then you can see why services would start to become less popular and run back to the depot earlier.
For evening journeys, Arriva do have some good offerings back to Blyth, Ashington and North Tyneside from Newcastle but they could do with re-timing the last X11/X21/308 more towards 11:30pm rather than 11:10-11:15pm.
Fair enough they dipped their toe into post 11:30pm services and backed out but it would make sense to have last journeys departing between 11:20pm and 11:30pm.
(27 Oct 2020, 2:32 pm)Andreos1 wrote [ -> ]If and when this whole covid19 thing ends, passengers or potential passengers will have found alternatives if their services have ended or reduced in frequency.
I can't see the majority returning to public transport if they've invested in a car or found out that taxis are cheaper and often more convenient.
I do think operators need to be creative and need to think about how to increase the popularity of those quieter services on an evening.
I think travel patterns will dramatically change, now that employers are seeing the benefit of homeworking - something that was once seen as a skive opportunity.
But that isn't the biggest barrier; its people's perceptions of travelling on public transport and the cleanliness. Operators are doing a lot, some a lot more than others, to ensure high cleaning standards, but the message just isn't reaching the people that it needs to. Or convincing those it is.
Channel 4's Dispatches were out swab testing several public places - Buses actually came out really positively from it:
https://metro.co.uk/video/dispatches-swa...e-2277984/
You're also right that creativity is required. The 24 hour ticket that GNE has introduced is great and offers a bit more flexibility. The evening ticket is also a positive, but only because you now pay a representative fare for the level of service received after 7pm. As you would in any other walk of life. It doesn't actually encourage me to use a bus on an evening though, because I still know that I'm going to spend most of my time waiting around in the cold!
Perhaps a different kind of creativity is needed? Operators of course need people back on their buses, but businesses are going to need people back in their workplaces and councils/retail alike needing people back on their high streets, maybe we need to consider something like local transport taskforces? Get all the key stakeholders together and work on a mutual way forward.
(27 Oct 2020, 9:36 pm)Adrian wrote [ -> ]I think travel patterns will dramatically change, now that employers are seeing the benefit of homeworking - something that was once seen as a skive opportunity.
But that isn't the biggest barrier; its people's perceptions of travelling on public transport and the cleanliness. Operators are doing a lot, some a lot more than others, to ensure high cleaning standards, but the message just isn't reaching the people that it needs to. Or convincing those it is.
Channel 4's Dispatches were out swab testing several public places - Buses actually came out really positively from it: https://metro.co.uk/video/dispatches-swa...e-2277984/
You're also right that creativity is required. The 24 hour ticket that GNE has introduced is great and offers a bit more flexibility. The evening ticket is also a positive, but only because you now pay a representative fare for the level of service received after 7pm. As you would in any other walk of life. It doesn't actually encourage me to use a bus on an evening though, because I still know that I'm going to spend most of my time waiting around in the cold!
Perhaps a different kind of creativity is needed? Operators of course need people back on their buses, but businesses are going to need people back in their workplaces and councils/retail alike needing people back on their high streets, maybe we need to consider something like local transport taskforces? Get all the key stakeholders together and work on a mutual way forward.
This is what is needed imo.
Seeing more of the same old service offer - with or without the new ticket offers won't be the magic pill that fixes everything.
The evening and 24 hour tickets are only part of the solution.