(21 Jun 2023, 6:15 pm)Andreos1 wrote It's the whole bigger picture that's so glaringly obvious - but keeps being missed.

The X84/X85 were obviously options for those in the outlying areas. Get a bus to Hexham and using the same ticket, connect for that next stage.
Except the timetables just didn't work. 

There's many other examples. Not sure what it's like now, but Chester was an absolute pain. 
You would think the 34 would be timed to sync with maybe a 50, 78 or 21.
It would be the obvious thing to have a 78 timed to connect with a 21
It never happened and inevitably played a part in the drop off in numbers across the board.

Yeah totally agreed, it just seems like basics to me but it happens all over the place. I can always remember the 19 with the Metro was particularly bad I'm sure the driver's used to use the Metro leaving towards Whitley Bay to pull off towards Cramlington.

It's all good doing hub and spoke but when the spokes don't connect it's a very broken system. It's even worse when it's 2 operators, with 2 different ticket types, in 2 different bus stations / streets at the opposite end of the city in the case of Newcastle if say someone wanted to travel from Gosforth to the QE which isn't exactly an unreasable commute. Then people wonder why everyone is in the car.