I haven't quoted the post, cos its a canny size - but the bit you mentioned about the hundred passengers , was something I wanted to build on.

What I was trying to get at initially, is those passengers who transfer somewhere, due to the lack of a direct service.

Person A and B gets on x1 at Oldcastle. She gets off at Beaton Road.
She uses a paper day ticket.

At Beaton Road, they change onto the x2, to go to Five Lane Ends.
Person A, continues to Lenton Road Hypermarket via the x3. Person C and D also boards the bus, having travelled from Oldcastle, but via Losforth.
Person B, continues from Five Lane ends to Billingworth, joined by person E, who has came from Lenton Road Hypermarket.

There is no record of where those individuals ended up once they left their original stop in Oldcastle.
It could be argued, that there should be a direct bus to Lenton Road Hypermarket, but there is no system in place to monitor numbers making the journey between the two points.
Just data showing where people boarded and disembarked each bus.