Don't get me wrong, I like the new simple displays, my point simply was when I'm catching one of the many different numbered buses that serve my stop in Gateshead, the destination 'Newcastle' isn't very helpful. Is it going to take me all the way to Eldon Sq, or just dump me at Central Station?

Like the examples given from years ago, 'Newcastle Pilgrim St' / 'Newcastle Eldon Sq' / 'Newcastle Market St' / 'Newcastle Haymarket' / 'Newcastle Central Station' would be a-lot more informative & useful.

Don't necessarily disagree but with the current system "Eldon Square" or "Market Street" appears at the beginning of the list of via points. If it's a long route and you've just missed it on the scrolling portion the bus might have left your stop before it's come round again on the screen. So with the current blinds with via points all you've seen of where it goes is Newcastle anyway with no further details. 

It would be interesting to know rather than guess do passengers actually read the via points now? (Which they might not even be able to do on a long route) or do they use other sources of information? If current passengers use the via points they should be kept. If they don't then might as well get rid of them.

Don't necessarily disagree but with the current system "Eldon Square" or "Market Street" appears at the beginning of the list of via points. If it's a long route and you've just missed it on the scrolling portion the bus might have left your stop before it's come round again on the screen. So with the current blinds with via points all you've seen of where it goes is Newcastle anyway with no further details. 

Yeah I don't like how the scrolling style destinations simply say 'Newcastle' either.

Go North East used to just use ultimate destinations on electronic blinds about 10 years ago at least, here are some examples.

Newcastle Pilgrim Street - https://www.flickr.com/photos/gjm-photog...825671096/

Whitley Bay Holiday Park - https://www.flickr.com/photos/gjm-photog...825671096/

Wallsend M - https://www.flickr.com/photos/gjm-photog...825671096/

Wallsend Metro - https://www.flickr.com/photos/gjm-photog...825671096/ (this should confuse some people)

Hadrian Park - https://www.flickr.com/photos/gjm-photog...825671096/ (Didn't say which way it went)

The well served town of Not in Service - https://www.flickr.com/photos/gjm-photog...772835603/

With this roller blind being used prior to then and ironically serving what is now part of the route followed by the 2.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/56682873@N06/34167411461/

More information on one blind back in 1992, than used now.

Even OK had more detail back in 1982!

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I've noticed a few and it is much clearer and easier to read, but having the destination simply as 'Newcastle' or 'Gateshead' isn't that helpful, especially further along the routes for people then boarding at stops within Newcastle or Gateshead.
Okay for Gateshead or South Shields I suppose, GNE are presuming passengers will presume the final stop is the town centre, but in my opinion 'Newcastle' isn't quite informative enough.
Its okay if you already know the local bus numbers/routes, but imagine you are visiting Edinburgh or London - an approaching bus with the destination simply as 'Edinburgh', or 'London' wouldn't be of any use. (Granted it may be the case for non stop buses/coaches coming from outside of the areas?).
Anyway, my point is maybe a New York flip style destination would be more helpful, so for example on the Crusader the destination screen would either display 'Newcastle' for 2 seconds, then 'Market St W' for 2 seconds in a cycle, OR display 'Newcastle Market St' for 2 seconds, then 'via Gateshead Interchange' or 'Gateshead Town' for 2 seconds.

Thats just my tuppence worth for today.   

In total agreement.
Granted there's not likely to be many tourists who use the 2 (the example I drew on last week), but an irregular passenger boarding in Penshaw, could be quite concerned to see the bus taking quite a journey via Chester Road, Sunderland City Centre and various other areas of Sunderland. As opposed to the trip in the car that would take them through the Herringtons and take it mere minutes.

I was under the impression the blinds were in place to assist passengers. Not cause confusion.

Yes, the same point hit me. Buses from Durham to Sunderland spring to mind, here. Pretty much every day i catch the Arriva 22, at Durham, someone catches it wanting Sunderland. Because the destination says Sunderland and the timetable is headlined with Sunderland, so people who don't catch many buses think that's the bus they need. They're generally alarmed when they hear it takes 90 minutes (or so, now). Even most of the drivers will signpost them to the 20/20A - a bus that runs ever 10 minutes to South Shields. No one who doesn't know their routes notices that it would get them into the centre of Sunderland in under an hour.

On a similar note, few buses in Durham are just local buses, as Durham is so small. Consequently, there's often someone looking confused, waning a bus to Gilesgate or Dragonville and not knowing what to catch. There are 2 papr maps (out of date, mind) and the interactive screen at the entrance of the bus station which help to work our what you need, but a lot of people find these confusing and walk up and down the bus station reading timetables - missing out the 64 in the process!

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Actuall,y on the X21, a via point saying no, we don't stop on Blackett street and this bus has never stopped on Blackett Street so just bog off now and take your attitude with you. While you're here, if you want Chowdene, then get the 21 and save yourself the embarrassment, eh?

Though all of that was usurped by a couple who sat upstairs on the X70, yesterday, got as far as Sunniside, the turned round and asked us if the bus stopped at Team Valley.

When will the Venture Solo SR's and Hexham's Mercs be branded?

The Venture Solos were due to be fitted yesterday.

Red Arrows fleet due to be fitted with a modified version of the branding today, too.

Just seen a connections 4 Citaro heading down to Deptford.

Yes, the same point hit me. Buses from Durham to Sunderland spring to mind, here. Pretty much every day i catch the Arriva 22, at Durham, someone catches it wanting Sunderland. Because the destination says Sunderland and the timetable is headlined with Sunderland, so people who don't catch many buses think that's the bus they need. They're generally alarmed when they hear it takes 90 minutes (or so, now). Even most of the drivers will signpost them to the 20/20A - a bus that runs ever 10 minutes to South Shields. No one who doesn't know their routes notices that it would get them into the centre of Sunderland in under an hour.

On a similar note, few buses in Durham are just local buses, as Durham is so small. Consequently, there's often someone looking confused, waning a bus to Gilesgate or Dragonville and not knowing what to catch. There are 2 papr maps (out of date, mind) and the interactive screen at the entrance of the bus station which help to work our what you need, but a lot of people find these confusing and walk up and down the bus station reading timetables - missing out the 64 in the process!

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Actuall,y on the X21, a via point saying no, we don't stop on Blackett street and this bus has never stopped on Blackett Street so just bog off now and take your attitude with you. While you're here, if you want Chowdene, then get the 21 and save yourself the embarrassment, eh?

Though all of that was usurped by a couple who sat upstairs on the X70, yesterday, got as far as Sunniside, the turned round and asked us if the bus stopped at Team Valley.

Imagine needing to be somewhere on the route of the 50, but boarding a 20?!
'But it said South Shields on the front bruv'

Just seen a connections 4 Citaro heading down to Deptford.

5366 - on loan to Deptford today due to a high VOR.

Imagine needing to be somewhere on the route of the 50, but boarding a 20?!
'But it said South Shields on the front bruv'

They even leave Durham at opposite ends!

All the bus needs to show is the route number and the final destination.  It's just about impossible to read all the via points as the bus approaches anyway.  The route details are easily displayed along with the timetable at the bus stop.  Intending passengers will usually have plenty of time to study this information before the bus arrives.  The final destination confirms that the bus is heading in the required direction.  Simples!

Somebody still ended up going in the opposite direction to that intended on the 20/20A I was on at Park Lane last week !!
Wonder how often it happens.

5332 was spotted heading north today same as the others

648 retains its black cant rail with the 'Stay Connected' tagline and has not been repainted red like the others as of yet.

Somebody still ended up going in the opposite direction to that intended on the 20/20A I was on at Park Lane last week !!
Wonder how often it happens.

It happens every now and then when I'm driving the 88 - Some people think that 88 is one direction and 88A is the opposite. Also people sometimes get confused around Jarrow since you can catch the bus is both directions from the same stop at Morrison's or at the bottom of the flyover.

Somebody still ended up going in the opposite direction to that intended on the 20/20A I was on at Park Lane last week !!
Wonder how often it happens.

As you might know, the TEN drives through the one-way system at Corbridge, and, until recently they were timetabled within a couple of minutes of each other (ten minutes now).
At least once both buses arrived showing the same destination - unfortunately the one most people wanted had just left when the other arrived.

The lack of a rear destination on the B9TLs means that running for a bus can mean rushing for the wrong one.

At one stage we had 'live' displays at the main stop - but they worked on absolute time rather than being reactive as to whether the bus had actually arrived and departed so were actually of little use (Hexham old bus station had the same system - I haven't monitored the displays at the new bus station other than occasionally seeing 'See timetable' displayed).

Corbridge has two major bus routes to and from Newcastle and Hexham (TEN and X84/X85/685) with the stops for each being a few minutes walk from each other with no line of sight between the stops - so if one bus is delayed, the chances of catching the other are greatly reduced (unless you walk across the bridge to where the routes cross)

My daughter was on the No 10 heading for Hexham the other day, when a man got as far as Corbridge, started getting agitated wondering why the bus wasn’t heading to Newcastle!

They even leave Durham at opposite ends!

Unless there's a few abandoned Solo's in the way

My daughter was on the No 10 heading for Hexham the other day, when a man got as far as Corbridge, started getting agitated wondering why the bus wasn’t heading to Newcastle!

Recently, an inebriated man arrived at Hexham bus station on the TEN, having boarded at Prudhoe.
He wondered why he wasn't at Newcastle, and, (having been turfed off the bus - which was being taken out of service due to 'leakage' - by him. not the bus) he promptly fell asleep.
When the return bus arrived from the depot he was unable to find his 'all day ticket' . . . (or any money).

My daughter was on the No 10 heading for Hexham the other day, when a man got as far as Corbridge, started getting agitated wondering why the bus wasn’t heading to Newcastle!

I bet if the next stop announcements had been working he would have realised sooner! :-p

It happens every now and then when I'm driving the 88 - Some people think that 88 is one direction and 88A is the opposite. Also people sometimes get confused around Jarrow since you can catch the bus is both directions from the same stop at Morrison's or at the bottom of the flyover.

Well, you are talking "cabbage patch land."

There's a picture of the updated Venture livery on Flickr somewhere, which I saw earlier - Don't know what to think, it looks strange without the prominent white 'V', which drew the attention to 'Venture' . There is a 'V' towards the back which you can hardly see, at first I thought it was just muck on the bus. And there's a rear advert across the back panel, which is blue - garish.

EDIT - Said pictures......

https://www.flickr.com/photos/gpr_bus_ph...otostream/

https://flic.kr/p/21pNZSW

There's a picture of the updated Venture livery on Flickr somewhere, which I saw earlier - Don't know what to think, I expected it to be a bit more. There is a 'V' towards the back which you can hardly see, at first I thought it was just muck on the bus. And there's a rear advert across the back panel, which is blue - looks completely out of place.

Yes - I had trouble spotting the 'V' at the rear too although I put that down to the lighting not been that great thanks to this horrid time of year. I think they could have thought of another tagline to go above the windows as I think that looks a tad empty but I can't think of anything of a length that wouldn't make it look cluttered. 

Go North East 643 / NL63 XZP. by Guy Park-Royal, on Flickr

Go North East 643 / NL63 XZP. by Guy Park-Royal, on Flickr

Yes - I had trouble spotting the 'V' at the rear too although I put that down to the lighting not been that great thanks to this horrid time of year. I think they could have thought of another tagline to go above the windows as I think that looks a tad empty but I can't think of anything of a length that wouldn't make it look cluttered. 

Go North East 643 / NL63 XZP. by Guy Park-Royal, on Flickr

Go North East 643 / NL63 XZP. by Guy Park-Royal, on Flickr

Something along the lines of what they used to use, such as 'Venture to.......', can't do that is services are going to be changed every 5 minutes though!

How come 5274 is branded for the big days out advert but then its covered by other adverts on sides and rear? Spoils it

Something along the lines of what they used to use, such as 'Venture to.......', can't do that is services are going to be changed every 5 minutes though!

Would it matter if they were to get rid of the URL to give them more space for the taglines? Some of the more generic ones such as 'Venture out with frequent connections to Metrocentre' could easily be used again without needing to be altered if there were to be any service changes. At the moment, the branding doesn't tell me that every venture can take me further as it makes no mention of any connections that can be made (eventhough as a local, I know which services serve Stanley and Consett anyway).

There's a picture of the updated Venture livery on Flickr somewhere, which I saw earlier - Don't know what to think, it looks strange without the prominent white 'V', which drew the attention to 'Venture' . There is a 'V' towards the back which you can hardly see, at first I thought it was just muck on the bus. And there's a rear advert across the back panel, which is blue - garish.

EDIT - Said pictures......

https://www.flickr.com/photos/gpr_bus_ph...otostream/

https://flic.kr/p/21pNZSW

I thought the 'V' was sticky residue left over from an old or misplaced vinyl!

X21 6301 just passed QE going towards Wrekenton

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

Go North East

We are sorry, but due to continued acts of vandalism and anti-social behavior, we have again temporarily removed all buses from Houghton le Spring Church & Newbottle St. Please walk to the stops on Hillside Way (outside Lidl) to board your bus.

X21 6301 just passed QE going towards Wrekenton

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

Durham road was closed this afternoon
http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/loca...t-13896465

Go North East

We are sorry, but due to continued acts of vandalism and anti-social behavior, we have again temporarily removed all buses from Houghton le Spring Church & Newbottle St. Please walk to the stops on Hillside Way (outside Lidl) to board your bus.

The Broadway (despite being mere metres away from the police station), has been a hot spot for trouble, for years.

edit: https://www.facebook.com/HoughtonResiden...9893983365