(11 Apr 2022, 8:08 pm)Wybus wrote Whilst talking about the 61, it makes no sense to me that the 61 & 60 have completely different brands, surely they could have the same brand as they have a lot of common route

It's not the only bus route Sunderland has a few of them imo.

The 20 and 55 should ideally be one brand or similar as it's the same route from Houghton and Sunderland which is a fair chunk of the route. Similar to the 2 and 39/39A which is the same route from Chester Road all the way round to Grangetown.

Branding wise I always liked Trent Barton's Sixes would work well with the 2 and 39/39A imo - https://www.trentbarton.co.uk/services/sixes. Have something like:

2 - 2.1
2A - 2.2
39 - 2.3
39A - 2.4

and push the 7.5 minute frequency through the core section with a route diagram of what the .x means as let's be honest it's only going to be locals using the outliers really anyway.

Ironically the 8/78 shouldn't be the same brand they're two different bus routes which make no sense being together which makes the branding in Stanley / Sunderland and Chester Le Street, 3 of the main points a total waste of time.