(13 Sep 2021, 10:42 am)tcts24 wrote I never said it was moraly right. Capitalism is simply the system inplemented by consecutive govermenments voted in by the masses or some crap like that.

From what I'm told by a friend that works within the social sector of Hartlepool Council, one of the biggest funding problems is the lack of high value housing, meaning they have a higher proportion of band A properties than most other local authority areas, this coupled with over a decade of funding cuts = less funding for what's deemed as less important sectors, such as transport.

Other areas wich may affect the bus industry in the town are the exeptionally cheap taxi's - which again, I'm told make remarkably little profit. Whether this is because of cheap fares, cometition, or maybe a lack of social travel because of the low income much of the local population has due to high unemployment.

Whatever the solution is, it won't be solved overnight by a bus company resurecting long forgotten routes that few if anybody is going to patronise.

(14 Sep 2021, 7:18 pm)Charles41 wrote Maybe the question should be asked are local authorities the best organisations to run local bus services. I would argue in their present state they are not. Many councils are bureaucratic, risk averse and dominated by political factions.

You need an element of private enterprise to take risks and build new markets. I'd argue the late Spirit Buses of Rothbury made a valiant attempt at this. Things took a turn for the worse when the local council awarded the service to the lowest bidder, PCL Travel.

Charles