- Buses looking filthy inside and out.
- Bits of branding missing for months and months on end.
- Buses appearing to be randomly allocated to services.
I'd be embarrassed expecting my customers to sit in a pigsty, or have a bus turn up that looks like it's been in a fight. I get that there's an importance to get buses back out on the road, but when you start corner cutting at one point, where do you stop.
The allocations are a mess. It's bloody confusing to customers, when you're training them to look out for a brand and not a service number. Looking right now for example, you've got a Tyne Valley 10 and a X45/X46 Red Kite on the X21, an Gateshead Rider on the 21, a Country Ranger on the 4, and a connections4 on the 8.
I get that there'll be times it's unavoidable, but this is every day and seemingly at random. Does the depot allocate buses with a bingo caller or something?
Is anybody actually running this business nowadays, or have they given up? There's no pride whatsoever in the fleet anymore.