A sad reflection of the changing times.

The 100 was conceived, numbered, branded and routed all to appeal to new markets and make maximum use of a single operator's market dominance by making the bus an attractive alternative in terms of price, convenience and environment. As daft is it seems now, it was a literal blue riband affair.

Customers taking advantage of their Day Rider only needed to know their own bus route into town, which at the time for that customer was already likely to be an express or a fast and frequent Super Route, and just hop on the shuttle. No fuss or hassle. Certainly no need to pore over timetables and network diagrams.

Now, none of that matters. You're just a passenger, and it is assumed you will put up with whatever is most convenient for the private operators and their employees, who have no real incentive to grow their own businesses or compete with each other.

Just a zombie mess waiting for the inevitable subhumation into a publicly run monolith, with all the further horrors that entails.

I don't feel special now, I feel no more valued than the oiks using the bus to get to the MetroCentre to wander round for a day's work being a moody teen or a shop lifter. I consider the fact ticket acceptance is offered as the bare minimum, not something to be whooping about in celebratory fashion like I have won the lottery.

I am amazed that these days, once you have located the bus you need in the complexity of GNEs network, there seems to be no consequence to a GNE driver not even realizing there even is an acceptance agreement, as he stares at you with a baffled and slightly suspicious face as you present him with this mysterious ticket, paper or digital, that he has apparently never seen before (yet more proof that local bus drivers are already doing well enough they don't need to use buses in their leisure time). I could have complained, but what's the point?

I complained when my far more convenient local bus that took me directly from the end of my street to the MetroCentre in less time than it takes to me drive (when including the hassle of parking) was axed due to so called low demand. It came to nothing, I was offered scripted platitudes by some time served tosser waiting out the time he could draw his fat PTE pension. The bus companies (and useless local authorities) continued their journey of self harm, to the point traffic is now so bad now I can bike to the cente faster than the current bus options. And it is quite a pleasant run too, taking in the river and a bit of train spotting.