(21 Apr 2020, 1:12 pm)Andreos1 wrote But anyway, to get back to the main point. 

Unreliable data was used. It was the best they had at the time. 
Numbers may have been steady, they may have been dropping, they may have been increasing. Regardless, it didn't fit in to the model. 

Has it worked?
Numbers have dropped, frequency has dropped, passengers need to use two/three buses to complete a journey that was possible on one and the vehicles used are about 15 years old on the 35 route.
Given the choice of using public transport or driving to the hospital, I'd use the former. Assuming it was easier, cheaper and reliable. As it isn't, my habits have changed. I'm just one person.

Maybe the frequency has dropped because there isn't the demand there once was. If the demand was there back then and now, the link would have continued. And the numbers have only dropped because majority of people can use 20 to complete their full journey. Its quicker than 35 is on the sunderland to Houghton section.

As Spock said, the needs of the many, outweigh the needs of the few