(14 Aug 2021, 4:05 pm)Adrian wrote The last two days have been a bit of an experience for me, having spent two consecutive days as a commuter after 18 months. I think it's fair to say that things aren't always as they seem, so I've written up my experience here: https://www.busesandbeyond.co.uk/2021/08...commuters/

Would welcome any thoughts.

Having used a somewhat unreliable service to commute a few years ago, I'd say your comments on service updates and apps are spot on.

In my case it was First Aberdeen's service 8, which once or twice a week would go from "5 mins" to "6 mins", then 7, 8 etc, and one time all the way up to 18 mins. Now, I'm not exactly sure how a bus goes back in time when I'm stood still at the same stop. I'd possibly understand once, if the driver had missed a section of route and looped back, but regardless it isn't exactly reassuring. These days I generally use bustimes as it's usually pretty spot on, and I don't bother with either the GNE or ANE app when in the North East as honestly, I find bustimes easier to use than either of them - it provides easy access to the full timetable, I can see what bus is coming for me, and it allows me to plan across operators.

For all the talk of "NEbus" etc, it is disappointing that you still have to have 3 separate apps to even think about planning a trip that includes the big 3 operators in the NE (or be familiar with bustimes, which the general public tend not to be). 

Your point about "some operators doing next to nothing" is also interesting. When making bus travel attractive is talked about, I think some folk picture huge 100+ bus orders to sort out the current situation in certain NE fleets, but realistically a bit of initiative such as GNEs £1 evening ticket, or better communication/advertising of services is a pretty good start (and is generally along the lines of what is actually meant). It costs nothing, relatively, to do a bit of promotion - especially for your key services.