(04 Jan 2020, 9:34 pm)OrangeArrow49 wrote I think free shuttles would be a great idea - how does this work in Manchester? Who is going to operate/fund the free shuttles?Not sure how it works in Manchester. But it does. They have operated for a number of years now. Guessing TfM must be footing the bill. But they serve the main rail stations of Picadilly. Victoria and Oxford Road, The bus stations of Shudehill and Picadilly Gardens, the coach station at Chorlton Street is a short walk from one of the stops and of course they observe the main shopping areas also.
I think reducing the number of vehicles into the City Centre is a good idea, and certainly achievable. Bus operators would lose revenue on services along those corridors, but it could work. Services could terminate at Gateshead, with shuttles linking Gateshead with Newcastle and the West End, like Regent Centre & Gosforth. A number of bus services would still need to exist, such as Stagecoach expresses and services passing through, such as the 12 and 39/40 to Walker/Wallsend and 62/63 to Killingworth. There would still be a number of buses in town, but far less.
This works in Manchester, but we would need an awful lot of planning and funding to get the same arrangement in Newcastle. It would be nice though.