(07 Jan 2022, 2:35 am)OrangeArrow49 wrote There is more to life than shopping, people might have family or friends in different areas. Also tickets are problematic as Blaydon is GNE and Westerhope is Stagecoach (apart from the 74) so it costs more in this case travelling into Newcastle and then on to Westerhope. Sometimes the demand hasn't been explored (a service could run from the Metrocentre to Blaydon or Elswick and it makes little difference).
You could never design a route or timetable to cater for where everyone's friends or family might live. It's impossible to cater for all the variables that would throw up.
I'd imagine when trying to design or develop a service, that the starting point should be where there's a logical link, e.g. connecting villages to Town or City Centres, to services (e.g. Hospitals), or to employment hubs and so on.
For all we know, the demand you're suggesting hasn't been explored, could have been explored. It's not like operators haven't got access to this data, with so many using smart cards, ticketing and so on, all that leaves a trackable footprint every time you scan it. I'd argue that operators have a greater ability to measure demand now than they've ever had.
(07 Jan 2022, 7:08 am)MurdnunoC wrote I give up.
I honestly find the idea of a suggestions thread laughable as operators in the region can barely operate the services they have yet alone start new ones based upon the whims of enthusiasts.
This situation isn't about to change.
Is it time to close these threads once and for all?
I'm starting to agree. I think the original purpose of these threads was to suggest minor tweaks or alterations with some logic behind them, not wholesale changes or complete network overhauls that are pure fantasy, and would really serve no objective than to suit a poster's own circumstances.