(06 Apr 2015, 8:17 am)Tommy_1581 wrote People only need to know the number and destination to get to their destination, frequencies don't matter, it's better having more services from Ashington - Newcastle than limited to a 20 minute frequency.
As for the branding - that's a good idea, 'Sapphire' and 'MAX' have nothing to do with Ashington, Bedlington etc. Something local instead of something that can be seen everywhere.
What needs to be looked at is a busway that bypasses Gosforth, that could cut 10+ minutes off the journeys.
Free Wifi, leather seating, NSAs and power sockets should come as standard in the next services to get an upgrade, not having brands that discriminate Morpeth etc. by not having 'Sapphire' on their routes.
The proposal that Davey is suggesting is a good one, this could be brought in as part as the Ashington redevelopments, but with minor timetable changes so that its quicker to pass through Ashington instead of the five sets of traffic lights around the bus station coming from Newbiggin etc.
You'd still have a 15 minute combined frequency from Newbiggin Seacrest Rd then between Ashington and Newcastle via the current X21 route to Bedlington them X22 route from there to Newcastle. Would also take alot of pressure of the X20 due to the 52 minute journey time from Ashington. Unless passengers want two SLOW services from Ashington to Newcastle, then both sections of both routes between Ashington and Bedlington and Bedlington and Newcastle, can't be combined to achieve fast journey times. Faster journey times are far more impprtant than a fancy combined 10 mimute frequency that only does combine at Ashington then between the A192 and Newcastle. The X31 / X32 services alongside a standalome X33 service with a bit of marketing and awareness would be far better.