(29 Jul 2021, 9:58 pm)Ambassador wrote Are links to business parks really that key anymore? The vast majority of employers aren’t going back full time, even in a post COVID world.

You can see why a bus company (business) would go after a growing leisure market versus a dwindling employment  centre market.

To be fair, I'm not sure operators ever saw links to business parks as key.
Thousands of people travelling there by car and public transport was often limited.
It still is unfortunately.

Even if 50% of office users return back to full-time office working, there's still going to be a good number that could make the switch. On top of those who are using public transport out of necessity.

Commuters are the bread and butter imo. It's just a shame operators seem to think commuters only work in city centres and continue feeding the city centres with bus after bus coming down the same corridor. 

I agree that leisure users are important, but the vast majority come out to play at night or on a weekend.
They're the audience operators need to chase once the commuters have finished commuting.
I think we need to remember that leisure users aren't just about going to the pub or out for a meal either. They're wanting to go to the out of town retail parks. But they can't use public transport, because its pretty naff.
Retail World is traditionally jam packed with traffic - the very limited bus service then gets stuck in said traffic.
Dalton Park traditionally has queues in and out of the place on a weekend and has grown its food/cinema offering on top of the retail product.
The very limited bus service then gets stuck in said traffic.
Silverlink is the same.