(23 Oct 2017, 7:11 pm)Andreos1 wrote I've been thinking about this for a while after seeing the X9/10 (one or both, cant remember) not showing anything about Gateshead on the rear blind after Dalton Park.
I followed it for a bit and wondered whether people (visitors or infrequent users) would know it stopped at Gateshead and offered connections elsewhere.
Particularly when you take the X55 in to account.

Then when seeing your post, I thought back to the old roller blinds. Obviously space was limited and via points restricted.
I am guessing feedback from passengers at the time indicated a preference for more detail. It's not as if bus companies just come up with ideas without asking their customers what they think

Then I thought about vehicle branding and route consolidation.
It would potentially help reduce the need for via several points.
Assuming the vehicle was allocated correctly.

I'm not too sure what you think you saw, but both the X9/X10 services have Gateshead as a via point on the displays after Peterlee and Dalton Park respectively.

The new style is being evaluated by Go North East's management. The general feeling towards the 'old' style of destination display was that there were too many via points, and the scrolling ultimately detracted attention from the terminal point. There's less of a need for via points to be as prominently shown on the displays now because of route branding, as you say, which often includes key destinations served by the services which those vehicles are allocated to (assuming they're allocated to the correct routes!)

It may be worth Go North East seeking feedback through the official channels, but I'm doubtful many customers, outside of the enthusiast community, would actually care (if we're honest). Destination displays and Next Stop Announcements are, for some reason, quite a big thing in the enthusiast community. I was guilty of it myself. A lot of enthusiasts pay close attention to them, have downloaded the software and make their own displays, etc. For the average punter - a bus branded for the Fab56 could be showing "Not In Service" on the front display, and they'd still stick their hands out for it thinking it's the 56, as they haven't read the display.

Most customers, if they're unsure whether a bus goes somewhere, will query this with the driver. Whether the via points were 'flashing' (as in the new style) or scrolling, doesn't make too much of a difference.

The new style is similar to the style used by Arriva Durham County, which they've used for quite some time now, with the main difference being Go North East continuing to use the larger and bolder route number in Arial font. Whilst a lot of enthusiasts now prefer the route number being in an Arial font, this too gained some negative feedback when it was first introduced on the Citylink58. I don't think we'll ever please everyone. I believe some of the other operators in the Go-Ahead Group use the new style, as well as First Group. The express service "bar" is also widely used by First Group, and whilst it may be difficult to read in low-light conditions, it certainly stands out during the day, in my opinion.

Only showing the terminal point is an interesting thought, and possibly one that will be looked at one day. Lothian Buses have started doing this up in the Scottish capital, following their introduction of Hanover Displays, replacing their old roller-blinds (which did contain a small number of via points).