(16 Jun 2016, 8:34 pm)Tom wrote To be fair I don't get why the couldn't just make the 10A half hourly considering it gets a 33 minute layover at Blackhall Mill anyway... so would be the same PVR I'd imagine?
The 11 never really gets busy between Newcastle and Blaydon that's the problem, and if they don't want to go via Metrocentre there is a 12 every 15 minutes from Blaydon which they can change onto.
The portion between Greenside and Blackhall Mill is secured by Nexus, so it's down to them to decide the route and frequency of the service between these two locations.
As posted elsewhere on the forum, "the number of passengers using existing service 11 from Greenside to reach Newcastle Business Park has been very disappointing, at around just two per day."
The number of direct buses between Newcastle Business Park and Blaydon, Ryton and Crawcrook (10X) has therefore been reduced to better match the number of people travelling, at peak times only.
It is unfortunate that the direct link from Greenside will be broken, but the very low usage means that it is just not sustainable to continue providing this direct link.
During the day, connections can be made between frequent TEN buses and frequent Toonlink 12/12A buses.
Whilst a number of people have signed said petition, I often think this is due to the increasing use of Social Media. It takes minutes to share the petiton on Facebook, and seconds to sign it. Even if you don't use buses, you could sign it because one of your friends has shared it and asked you to sign it (in order to build up the numbers). It's really not a true reflection, and if all of these people were making use of the direct link between Blackhall Mill, Greenside, Crawcrook, and Ryton, the service (quite frankly) wouldn't be being withdrawn.