(04 May 2020, 10:03 am)LeeCalder wrote With buses getting evidently busier, I wonder whether Go North East will start to introduce bigger buses on certain routes (like they have on the 58) or up frequencies slightly, although the latter may be a trigger for more people to make yet more unnecessary journeys.
I travelled to Chester-le-Street on the 21 on Saturday to get some groceries in (£2.30 again!!) and the bus I travelled on had a decent load, the first time I have had to sit upstairs.
Doris and Maude sat gossiping like a normal day....
Most of the buses taken out of service last month are ready and waiting as 'hot spares' (the only ones which aren't are the ones which are off service due to defects) - that includes 14x double-deck, so very much in a position to react with bigger buses quite quickly.
It's obviously a bit more challenging to change the frequency of routes at short notice - generally speaking bus operators are a week behind any 'new news', with Go North East's schedule revisions always implemented on a Saturday. There have been a few instances where duplicate journeys have been operated following feedback into Customer Services about buses getting busier and the ticket machine data backing that up. Doesn't seem to be any obvious trends - buses are busier one day, then quieter the next.