(05 Jan 2015, 12:50 pm)G-CPTN wrote Old people are charged, too.
Depending on how the bus company operates their system, this can be based on the maximum fare for the route.

Also, consider that without concessionary fares, many 'old people' would not use the buses as often.

I know that I use the bus to save money on what I would otherwise pay for milk by travelling to a cheaper supermarket.
If I had to pay to use the bus I wouldn't - I would just buy the more expensive milk.

On average I make three return journeys each week (not all for milk!) - none of which I would do if I had to pay for my tickets.

Most operators choose to be reimbursed based on average ticket price. Operators can work out the average ticket price by dividing the total revenue generated from a service by the total number of tickets sold (regardless of whether these are single, return or day tickets) within a set period of time.

(05 Jan 2015, 12:55 pm)Jimmi wrote Everytime I've seen the X36 in Newcastle there has been almost no-one on it so I was not surprised to see it cut on this section of the route to hourly.

The X36 is an odd one. I've experienced loadings which were almost full on occasion, and other times where it's been empty. The other afternoon I saw one in Southwick heading to Newcastle with just one passenger...