(15 Jun 2019, 11:20 pm)markydh wrote Well, that’s a good laugh. You want to go from a 7 to 8 minute double deck service to a ‘highly frequent’ minibus? That’s ridiculous. The extra staffing costs would be prohibitive before we even get to the fact that there’s a reason deckers are used in the first place. The number 1 has coped just fine with all the cars round that estate for many years. The extension to Cobalt was to provide Heaton, High Heaton, etc with a direct link. Why on earth would Stagecoach want to introduce a coast road route on an already well-bussed corridor and abandon Heaton and High Heaton?
Do you have better suggestions than what I have come up with, just to note I only the "suggested route 37" would be operated by a minibus with other services remaining double decker operated and from my suggestions have I abandoned the people of Heaton/High Heaton, no I haven't, might want to re-read my post first!
Furthermore I appreciate that the extension to the cobalt was to offer a direct link from Heaton/High Heaton however it doesn't matter what time of day I see the 1 on the Cobalt it runs around empty, last night when I got on it I was the only one it between the Cobalt and Heaton as it didn't pick up a single passenger.
Also given the 1 also goes via Holystone/Benton Asda along the main roads of newly built estates is it going to pick anyone up when all those areas much like Heaton have a high amount of cars users with people living in those areas who are clearly have quite a lot of money. Are those people really going stop taking the car to work in order to get on the bus, I don't think they are if I am totally honest.
As a result of the above is the extension to the Cobalt really financially sustainable for Stagecoach to run throughout the day going forward as I do think it maybe better to have a few journey's extended during peak times only.