(15 Sep 2013, 6:04 pm)aureolin wrote ... it's always shown on my Key card as me boarding a bus towards Sunderland. My understanding was that the blinds and ticket machine worked independent of each other, so technically speaking, both would have to be adjusted to be set up for the 'next trip' if you like...As soon as a driver has passed the last possible boarding point for that trip, he'll reset the ticket machine ready for the start of the next trip, or log out of the ticket machine if the bus is finishing. Equally, as soon as the driver has passed the last possible boarding point for that trip, and before the first possible boarding point of the next trip, he'll reset the blind (both, of course, when it's safe to do so!).
Personally, I think it's important to do the blind well before you reach a bus station such as Eldon Square - eg., GNE 31 and 11 interwork, as do 47 and 32. Imagine the chaos if a Toonlink arrived showing "Newcastle 32", pulled on to a stand and then became "Blackhall Mill 47".
On the question of resetting ticket machines... from what I've seen, it seems to be GNE practice that when a driver changeover happens during a service (at Blaydon, for example), the incoming driver collects any fares before signing out of the machine and swapping with his mate. Is this the norm with other operators, or do things vary from company to company (eg, Stagecoach on Stamfordham Road opposite Slatyford depot?).