(14 Feb 2014, 9:10 pm)CatsFast101 wrote Which is why I supporting their decision to do so by providing some general examples.
Well there's a certain excuse of passengers not caring, I don't think the majority give too much interest etc. but passengers do come to identify services by the colour of the bus. Durham bus station can get busy, it's often chaotic and it's sometimes you end up not really seeing what buses are coming a recent example i can usually my Prince Bishops solar coming in however other week it was a Fab56 solar. A lot were confused and didn't go to board, until I had said is that the 20 when people were like 'oh yeah' and got on.
Everyone likes to say there's no meaning to fab56/fab57 but these are two most recognised brands. I'd thinks people prefer branded buses but ultimately it's comes down to a bus is better than no bus. And I do think brand recognition is something that should be taken seriously.
In your anecdote, you gave the example of Durham Bus Station.
Now imagine you're on a cold, dark road - served by a number of Go North East buses, but has an infrequent service on evenings...
You're used to seeing pink buses turning up, but on this freezing cold night, you see a yellow bus approaching. The destination blind is illegible as you're visually impaired.
As you're used to seeing pink buses, you let the yellow one go straight past.
As a passenger, you would care. You've now got to wait 30 minutes before the next bus turns up; in this instance, the wrong coloured bus was not better than no bus turning up at all.
It happens, and this is why branding is vital. Ultimately, passengers do care - GNE's business model is right. It just needs to be applied by depots.