(16 Apr 2019, 8:09 am)Tyne_Traveller wrote Certainly the way the boundaries are coloured can cause confusion. Take for example the orange zone encompassing Ashington/Blyth and Alston and Allenheads. On the face of it that may not sound too bad as there are no direct buses without having to change and travel via 2 other zones. However, as I witnessed last week, a couple with Blue and Orange attempted to travel to Corbridge without the intermediate zone (cherry) The driver politely explained they required a 3 zone plus and showed the couple a map when they became argumentative. On the south side of the Tyne Valley the cherry zone will only take you 5 miles from Stanley Burn to Stocksfield Rail station, but an orange zone will cover you from there to Hexham and onwards to Alston/Allenheads/Bellingham/Haltwhisitle and Birdsoswald. Maybe the West Northumberland and Cumbria zone needs a look at with a different colour.
Compare that to the 4, which travels a short distance within the green zone and drivers don't bat an eyelid if you travel with say a red zone ticket.
I've never boarded within the green zone, so can't comment on the approach from that side of things.