(31 Aug 2021, 4:47 am)deanmachine wrote For example there was a time when there was a bus that followed the current 20 route to Sunderland then onto Seaham. It was and still is my main route to Sunderland, yet I don't seem to remember it in my childhood? I only ever remember getting the 535/536, or E6. I'm not sure how you'd incorporate that into a modern bus network. If I actually wanted to get to Seaham by bus, I think I'd probably just jump on the first bus that got me to Park Lane, then the first bus to Seaham from there, which I think the current system is built for? Would more people who don't plan public transport journeys like I do just wait for the bus that had Seaham written on the front, even if it was hourly, despite their being buses every 12 minutes across the whole route from the same operator?

I'm not really sure where the solution is, and whether people would use it more than the current system. Or am I missing a third option that is better than the old and new system?

The route between Seaham and South Shields was the 37 and I think it was launched in either 2000 or 2001 to compliment the 535/536 which had recently been renumbered to 35/36. Aside from not being a regular traveller to Seaham, one of the reasons you probably don't remember it is because it didn't last very long (maybe 18 months - max) while 535/536 were long established routes going back decades. People, in general, are conditioned to identify with what they know, so perhaps they were willing to let the 37 pass whilst waiting for the 35/36 (or 535/536 - whatever it was) as they were familiar with the service. Maybe that applied to you as well, I don't know...

Whether someone going to Seaham from South Shields would just jump onto the first bus to Park Lane then the first bus to Seaham might possibly depend on the frequency of the service (as you've pointed out); how frequently you travel the route; and the cost of the journey. If you travel by bus from South Shields to Seaham on a daily basis then you are probably going to have a weekly or monthly pass which means the cost of the journey is the same no matter what. However, if you travel infrequently between South Shields and Seaham and find out there is a direct bus, then it is likely you're going to use that bus because it is easier (no connecting journey) and possibly cheaper.

In the past, when I was in my teens in the early 90s and bus fares were only either 10p or 15p, catching one bus instead of two is going to save me 15p (or 30p taking into account the return journey). Using the same psychology now, if taking advantage of GNE's £1 evening fare, the same principle applies. So if I travelled from Winlaton to Wardley (and back), it would only cost me £2 using the 69, or £4 if I decided to take the more frequent option of catching the 57 to Gateshead and the 49 back to Winlaton. If time wasn't an issue, I'd go with the cheaper option.

The third option, might be a compromise where, if there are more than two possible combinations of journeys between destinations taking a similar amount of time, the single fare option is applied as long as the journey is completed within a certain time. So, in theory, it might be something similar to the old TRANSFARE system, where, just using the example of the 57/49/49a again, you can make the same journey as long as you transfer onto the 49 within a 30 minute time window at Gateshead. That might be a way forward...