(04 Jul 2015, 12:00 pm)Cock Robin wrote It wasn't expected at the time Hartlepool went low floor though.

I don't think most bus passengers give a fig about wifi, power sockets and next stop announcements, only a few enthusiasts and technophobes. Comfortable seating on the other hand is badly overdue as standards have plummeted since the days of Leopards and Tigers etc, and that is largely as a result of politically correct DDA pressure groups.

That is what I am saying - customers' expectations have moved on from buses being low-floor, so really, from a customer perspective, Hartlepool's fleet may indeed be quite dated.

Growth rates to services following the introduction of Wi-Fi, power sockets, etc, provide evidence that customers do care about new on-board bus technology. I don't think there's enough "enthusiasts and technophobes" in the country to form the basis of the growth rates this technology has seen across operators all around the UK.