(12 Feb 2021, 11:29 am)streetdeckfan wrote What software do you use?

I don't currently have any software but I want to start doing designs. Any suggestions?

(12 Feb 2021, 11:50 am)ASX_Terranova wrote I don't currently have any software but I want to start doing designs. Any suggestions?

If you have no plans to do it professionally, I'd suggest either Inkscape or Affinity Designer, if you want to get into it professionally, Adobe Illustrator is the standard, albeit extortionately expensive.

Inkscape is free and open source, but a bit more complicated to use
Affinity Designer is pretty easy, but it's paid for. However, it's on sale for £24 which I think is a bargain for what it offers.

I use all three, depending on what mood I'm in, but my go to at the minute is Affinity Designer (they also do their own version of Photoshop and Indesign, I still prefer Photoshop for my image editing, but I really like Affinity Publisher)

If you're the type of person that is willing to pay for software, I'd definitely say give Affinity Designer a shot, they have a free trial, and to buy the software outright at the minute is basically the same as Adobe charges per month!
If you're not, get Inkscape, it's been out forever and basically hasn't changed so there's 1000s to tutorials online, that's how I learned how to use it. 


Maybe Dan can move this to a different thread?

(12 Feb 2021, 9:41 am)ne14ne1 wrote ...so then Coaster is a pointless name if that’s the case.

As Omnicity said it's more about that it serves the Coast between Whitley and N. Shields and that's fine. I wouldn't promote it as the bus that goes there though ie with link as it'll end up with some rather angry customers when they board the 'coast link' service at the Metro Centre and realise it takes over an hour and a half to get to the Coast.

Then again I don't really see the point why it's all one route anyway as I can't imagine there's many customers travelling from Byker south of the water or Bensham east of Newcastle as it's too long and horseshoes the Western side of the route so it's just suspectible to delays for little customer benefit. The old route did make sense though.

What about rebranded it to Coaster Connect and give it a 2021 look

(12 Feb 2021, 12:28 pm)MichealAaron wrote What about rebranded it to Coaster Connect and give it a 2021 look

Good idea

(12 Feb 2021, 9:55 am)omnicity4659 wrote Coaster serves the coastal area, and links places between Newcastle and Whitley Bay which aren't served as well by Metro which must be the parts of the route that GNE wish to market. 

Nobody had these issues for the X18 showing "Explore Coast and Castles" on the side despite it not serving Newcastle Castle, nor is Morpeth & Newcastle by the coast! Most journeys aren't end-to-end but obviously the operators want to market the parts of the route which are the most attractive to customers (in the case of the X18, along the coast).

(12 Feb 2021, 12:23 pm)Storx wrote As Omnicity said it's more about that it serves the Coast between Whitley and N. Shields and that's fine. I wouldn't promote it as the bus that goes there though ie with link as it'll end up with some rather angry customers when they board the 'coast link' service at the Metro Centre and realise it takes over an hour and a half to get to the Coast.

Then again I don't really see the point why it's all one route anyway as I can't imagine there's many customers travelling from Byker south of the water or Bensham east of Newcastle as it's too long and horseshoes the Western side of the route so it's just suspectible to delays for little customer benefit. The old route did make sense though.

Yes I know I suggested CoastLink or CoastLine if you were wanting to update the brand. It was Storx who said  no-one would use it to go to the Coast 

(12 Feb 2021, 9:55 am)omnicity4659 wrote Coaster serves the coastal area, and links places between Newcastle and Whitley Bay which aren't served as well by Metro which must be the parts of the route that GNE wish to market. 

Nobody had these issues for the X18 showing "Explore Coast and Castles" on the side despite it not serving Newcastle Castle, nor is Morpeth & Newcastle by the coast! Most journeys aren't end-to-end but obviously the operators want to market the parts of the route which are the most attractive to customers (in the case of the X18, along the coast).

What? The X18 literally serves about 5 castles! Including the one in Morpeth   Why do you think it’s referring to Newcastle Keep?

(12 Feb 2021, 10:42 am)ASX_Terranova wrote Not sure if this is the right thread but does anyone have a solo, citaro, streetlite or omnicity graphic that i can edit on a PC. I want to try some fictional repaints baaed on my own service suggestions.

I've got the StreetLite, OmniCity and Citaro files if you'd like them?

(12 Feb 2021, 12:54 pm)Ambassador wrote What? The X18 literally serves about 5 castles! Including the one in Morpeth   Why do you think it’s referring to Newcastle Keep?

I used it as a counter-argument about the use of the Coaster brand in Gateshead. The X18 serves multiple passenger flows, the same as the Coaster, where they don't match up with what the brand advertises.

Looking at Snakebites latest photos, it looks like at least 3 Connections 4 Citaro's are now rebranded:

5358 - https://www.flickr.com/photos/bazza90/50...ateposted/
5359 - https://www.flickr.com/photos/bazza90/50...ateposted/
5361 - https://www.flickr.com/photos/bazza90/50...ateposted/

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Also spotted Dan's reply to someone asking about the Prince Bishops getting a repaint -

As the Prince Bishops are now approaching five years old, it’s likely we will be thinking about these over the next year or two. Everything will get its turn.

https://twitter.com/Kian2Kian1/status/13...4075834370

Please keep the same name.... it works so well.

(11 Feb 2021, 2:50 pm)streetdeckfan wrote
https://twitter.com/Dan3942/status/1359859455601631232





5358 has received the new 'Connections4' livery.
Very predictable, probably took them all of 4 seconds to design!

What's really bothering me is the fact the Connections4 logo on the front and side are different, the text on the side appears to be stretched, whereas the text on the front is not.

I'm sure I'll find even more to complain about once there's more pictures up!

Just like CityRider brand you can’t read the full brand name easily. 4 stands out, but ‘connections’ is not going to be easily spotted. It’ll just be the ‘4’.

(13 Feb 2021, 12:53 pm)Drifter60 wrote Just like CityRider brand you can’t read the full brand name easily. 4 stands out, but ‘connections’ is not going to be easily spotted. It’ll just be the ‘4’.

It may be just the photo though, I know people said this about CityRider and then turned out to be ok (obvs not greatly standing out, but easy enough to read.).

I think that the Coaster needs a fresh look. Plus the seats on the Cobalt & Coast and Coaster could be changed

(18 Feb 2021, 10:35 pm)MichealAaron wrote I think that the Coaster needs a fresh look. Plus the seats on the Cobalt & Coast and Coaster could be changed

Cobalt & Coast just got refurbished! Plenty of higher priorities to spend money on before even thinking of doing that.

Coaster does need to be brought into the current house style however, I agree with you there. Maybe it’ll get done once the hybrid conversation works take place.

60 has new cart rail every 12 mins yet the BACK of the bus is advertising surf the net to Sunderland every 10 mins 5376 and I noticed the BACK of destination is buggered

(19 Feb 2021, 12:18 am)Acky81 wrote 60 has new cart rail every 12 mins yet the BACK of the bus is advertising surf the net to Sunderland every 10 mins 5376 and I noticed the BACK of destination is buggered

I think it's definitely time to give the 60 a refurb/refresh. The majority of other places have had at least 1 or 2 rebrands/refurbishments whereas poor old Sunderland hasn't got any, except from the very recent CityRider 56 update. If it wasn't for COVID, I'd have thought, they'd order new vehicles for the 60. It's a busy route after all.

(19 Feb 2021, 1:21 pm)Adtrainsam wrote I think it's definitely time to give the 60 a refurb/refresh. The majority of other places have had at least 1 or 2 rebrands/refurbishments whereas poor old Sunderland hasn't got any, except from the very recent CityRider 56 update. If it wasn't for COVID, I'd have thought, they'd order new vehicles for the 60. It's a busy route after all.

I think the rebrands are being grouped. Example Washington (Little pinks, Connections 4 and Cityrider) are all being done together as part of a network. Same with Consett and Percy Main services with some services such as Coaster and Durham diamond being left but are newer brands from 2016/2017 and as such probably not commercially viable for repaint due to not being that old.

Please could someone remind me why there’s still Toonlink livered vehicles knocking around? How come they haven’t been repainted?
https://flic.kr/p/2kErqMd

(23 Feb 2021, 9:59 pm)ne14ne1 wrote Please could someone remind me why there’s still Toonlink livered vehicles knocking around? How come they haven’t been repainted?
https://flic.kr/p/2kErqMd

Don't think there is plan to paint them. 6154 only got painted 2019 due to a crash

(23 Feb 2021, 9:59 pm)ne14ne1 wrote Please could someone remind me why there’s still Toonlink livered vehicles knocking around? How come they haven’t been repainted?
https://flic.kr/p/2kErqMd

Why is it the end of the world? It’s a generic brand for services going into Newcastle.

I’m struggling to see why it’s such a problem.


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(23 Feb 2021, 10:07 pm)MichealAaron wrote Don't think there is plan to paint them. 6154 only got painted 2019 due to a crash

Oh. Are they to be disposed of? 
Odd that 2016 corporate liveried vehicles are going in to be adapted into 2019 corporate livery yet there’s still the obsolete Toonlink out there.

(23 Feb 2021, 10:12 pm)ne14ne1 wrote Oh. Are they to be disposed of? 
Odd that 2016 corporate liveried vehicles are going in to be adapted into 2019 corporate livery yet there’s still the obsolete Toonlink out there.

They aren’t ‘going in’ - the adapted 2019 fleet livery is a simple, low-cost vinyl solution. A full repaint costs a lot more.


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(23 Feb 2021, 10:16 pm)Dan wrote They aren’t ‘going in’ - the adapted 2019 fleet livery is a simple, low-cost vinyl solution. A full repaint costs a lot more.

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Yeah totally get that, but we’ve seen other discontinued brands  repainted into corporate rather than leaving them as odd balls running around, I just wondered why this was different.

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Maybe they could even just take off the vinyls to get rid of the horrible Toonlink brand and leave it black if needs be. After all that ones running around as ‘ToonLi’ on the passenger side.

I'm sure your average Joe / Josephine doesn't care what colour the bus is as long as it turns up on time. Doesn't matter if it's Toon Link, Pink with Yellow Spots, CityRider etc etc. And although they may grumble if a lower spec vehicle appear on a high spec route, they will still get on, they're hardly going to wait around however long in case the next on is a high spec vehicle.

(24 Feb 2021, 12:07 am)Rapidsnap wrote I'm sure your average Joe / Josephine doesn't care what colour the bus is as long as it turns up on time. Doesn't matter if it's Toon Link, Pink with Yellow Spots, CityRider etc etc. And although they may grumble if a lower spec vehicle appear on a high spec route, they will still get on, they're hardly going to wait around however long in case the next on is a high spec vehicle.

I used to do that when every other bus on the X21 was an Omnidekka!

(24 Feb 2021, 12:07 am)Rapidsnap wrote I'm sure your average Joe / Josephine doesn't care what colour the bus is as long as it turns up on time. Doesn't matter if it's Toon Link, Pink with Yellow Spots, CityRider etc etc. And although they may grumble if a lower spec vehicle appear on a high spec route, they will still get on, they're hardly going to wait around however long in case the next on is a high spec vehicle.

I agree from the customer’s perspective. That’s why I’d happily see everything corporate red except for Xlines, and Quaylink.

I was thinking more for the company image/presentation when I said about getting rid of any random remaining Toonlinks.

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(24 Feb 2021, 1:05 am)streetdeckfan wrote I used to do that when every other bus on the X21 was an Omnidekka!

Yeah but you’re a special case. 

But for each time that a vehicle which doesn't meet modern standards for comforts and features, customers who switched from other modes, such as cars, will lose faith and trust in the service provided...and will consider switching back to the car. Not to mention those who are existing customers, too.

I think it's time to ditch the 10-year old perception that people don't care about what spec bus turns up.

(24 Feb 2021, 8:16 am)omnicity4659 wrote But for each time that a vehicle which doesn't meet modern standards for comforts and features, customers who switched from other modes, such as cars, will lose faith and trust in the service provided...and will consider switching back to the car. Not to mention those who are existing customers, too.

I think it's time to ditch the 10-year old perception that people don't care about what spec bus turns up.

Definitely agree.
Before they got the StreetDecks on the X21, I think I may have used it maybe once, it just wasn't a very pleasant place to spend the hour and a half up to Newcastle. Since then I've pretty much exclusively used the bus to get up to Newcastle.

If a 15 year old heap turns up instead, there's no way I'm getting it unless I have an appointment I need to get to. I'll wait the half an hour until the next one. When a service is advertised as having WiFi, USB, Tables and comfortable seats, I'd bloody hope a vehicle of that specification turns up.  It's like booking an Uber Exec and a Vauxhall Astra turning up.

Tables might seem like a waste of money, but I use them for work every time I get the bus. There's no way I could work on my laptop sitting in a regular seat, there just isn't the space to open it up fully.
Fancy seats might seem like a waste of money, but when you're spending 4 hours a day on a bus, they really do make a difference.
USB ports and sockets might seem like a waste of money, but for those of us who spend the day getting emails and phone calls, they're basically essential when you also have mobile ticketing. If your battery runs out, you're stranded.

And sorry to burst everyone's bubble, buses weren't better 'back in the day', the services might have been, but the buses most certainly weren't. I genuinely don't understand why people think they were, is it the nostalgia?
Because I certainly wouldn't like to spend 2 hours sitting on what is no better than a slab of wood with no back support.

Go North East 6172 / YN57 FYP by kieron mathews, on Flickr

6172 (formerly 9065) has been repainted and refurbished into Northern Coaching Voyager livery


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(24 Feb 2021, 1:15 pm)streetdeckfan wrote Definitely agree.
Before they got the StreetDecks on the X21, I think I may have used it maybe once, it just wasn't a very pleasant place to spend the hour and a half up to Newcastle. Since then I've pretty much exclusively used the bus to get up to Newcastle.

If a 15 year old heap turns up instead, there's no way I'm getting it unless I have an appointment I need to get to. I'll wait the half an hour until the next one. When a service is advertised as having WiFi, USB, Tables and comfortable seats, I'd bloody hope a vehicle of that specification turns up.  It's like booking an Uber Exec and a Vauxhall Astra turning up.

Tables might seem like a waste of money, but I use them for work every time I get the bus. There's no way I could work on my laptop sitting in a regular seat, there just isn't the space to open it up fully.
Fancy seats might seem like a waste of money, but when you're spending 4 hours a day on a bus, they really do make a difference.
USB ports and sockets might seem like a waste of money, but for those of us who spend the day getting emails and phone calls, they're basically essential when you also have mobile ticketing. If your battery runs out, you're stranded.

And sorry to burst everyone's bubble, buses weren't better 'back in the day', the services might have been, but the buses most certainly weren't. I genuinely don't understand why people think they were, is it the nostalgia?
Because I certainly wouldn't like to spend 2 hours sitting on what is no better than a slab of wood with no back support.

Not everyone travels for that length of journey though. Although saying that, depending on the day of the week or time of the day - what could be a 15min journey in the car, can take that sort of time door to door, depending on connections. 

I think it's too easy to say 'buses are better now'. I'm not sure that is always going to be the case. As was one of the favourite phrases of the apparent former member of this parish 'eezypeazy': "that's a wild statement to be throwing around". Something like that anyway... I think he was distracted by me being in the bath with my face cloth one night. He lurked around for a bit, said something about 'battleship grey', 'wibble wibble' and 'magic money tree' and he's not been seen again!

An uprated Metrobus with DP seating vs a Streetdeck and it's ironing board seats... Hmm. I know which I would prefer for distance 'express' work. 
Travelling between Sunderland and Durham and the choice of a Mk2 National vs a Streetlite... Hmm. 
The modern versions may have WiFi or plugs, but given the amount of data people have, the limits imposed by operators and the price of portable charging devices - that National and Metrobus will win every time in my mind.
Nothing to do with nostalgia. Just a nicer ride. 

Some were better.

Edit: just found this - https://mancunian1001.wordpress.com/2016...bus-seats/ mention of the current seating vs some of old. Including DP seating which was comfier in the authors opinion.

There's also a photo of the saloon of a Lynx. The native examples were pretty rough and I'm sure an extra row was squeezed in on the Washington/Phili examples.
There was also the random split seat at the back. It is just possible to make this out in the link.