(02 Dec 2023, 4:22 pm)Adrian wrote I'd argue by moving the goal posts now, you're actually going to achieve everything that you've quite rightly tried to avoid as a company. It's drivers who are going to get it in the neck when customers are asked for a fare, when they're not expecting to pay for one. Isn't that only going to delay buses more?
You’re right, it could. I suppose it depends how the driver reacts to that situation.
If the driver politely responds “single tickets are free, so just ask your drivers for singles all day” or similar, there’s probably no conflict to be had, as it still represents what most customers would have had with an operator-specific day ticket.
Of course, for those customers that do board without stating which ticket they wanted, the driver can simply issue a free single ticket and not call the customer back.
I dare say this will be a pleasant surprise for most customers as they board, not realising there was free travel in the first place (less than 2000 reactions to the Facebook post pales into insignificance compared to the six figure numbers that Go North East usually sees travel on a daily basis). Indeed, anecdotally, I remember that being the case for £1 evening fares, when that initiative was launched.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk