(16 Jun 2020, 10:58 pm)Rapidsnap wrote Does anyone know (other than the depot) where the Tees Flex buses tend to gather between pick ups.

I know Stillington is one location as I found 3 gathered there on Monday. Just need 2 more of the things to get photos of, and annoyingly they don't track anymore.

(24 Aug 2020, 10:06 am)Kuyoyo wrote More stops being added to Tees Flex in the near future

https://www.stagecoachbus.com/promos-and-offers/north-east/tees-flex

Billingham Town Centre being one that I've questioned for a good while as being missing.
Interesting addition of East Cleveland to James Cook Hospital for an additional £2 surplus charge - I wonder if something like that could not be offered for destinations in Hartlepool to North Tees Hospital. In addition, note the addition destinations added in Hartlepool.

(24 Aug 2020, 11:50 am)ASX_Terranova wrote Maybe even Towards Peterlee. I dont know if they would want to muscle in on Arriva though.

(24 Aug 2020, 10:06 am)Kuyoyo wrote More stops being added to Tees Flex in the near future

https://www.stagecoachbus.com/promos-and-offers/north-east/tees-flex

Billingham Town Centre being one that I've questioned for a good while as being missing.
Interesting addition of East Cleveland to James Cook Hospital for an additional £2 surplus charge - I wonder if something like that could not be offered for destinations in Hartlepool to North Tees Hospital. In addition, note the addition destinations added in Hartlepool.

(24 Aug 2020, 6:09 pm)stagecoachbusdepot wrote Seems a bit morally wrong to be adding the surcharge for passengers travelling to hospital - most won't be doing it for leisure purposes after all

(24 Aug 2020, 10:06 am)Kuyoyo wrote More stops being added to Tees Flex in the near future

https://www.stagecoachbus.com/promos-and-offers/north-east/tees-flex

Billingham Town Centre being one that I've questioned for a good while as being missing.
Interesting addition of East Cleveland to James Cook Hospital for an additional £2 surplus charge - I wonder if something like that could not be offered for destinations in Hartlepool to North Tees Hospital. In addition, note the addition destinations added in Hartlepool.

(24 Aug 2020, 8:09 pm)Economic505 wrote The Flex is a good DRT service but the Mayor’s party wrecked bus services with the 1985 Transport Act . Bus competition fizzled out by the early 1990s.

(24 Aug 2020, 8:09 pm)Economic505 wrote The Flex is a good DRT service but the Mayor’s party wrecked bus services with the 1985 Transport Act . Bus competition fizzled out by the early 1990s.

(24 Aug 2020, 8:39 pm)James101 wrote Good point, everyone who isn’t a shareholder in the big 4 lost out from dereg - most of all the passengers. But I dint think the Mayor can be held too accountable considering he was about a month off being born on deregulation day.

It’d be fantastic to see Bristol REs swinging by every lamppost in Hartlepool but in the real world The Flex is the most positive thing to happen to public transport in the Tees Valley for a decade.

(24 Aug 2020, 9:02 pm)Storx wrote It's very hard to blame it all on that. Nottingham and Edinburgh aren't doing no better than anywhere else and they're both council ran and the Tyne and Wear Metro which has been nationalised throughout bar a few years with DB Regio is way below it's 1985 levels and that's with an extension to Sunderland.

There's more to it such as the price of a car dropping and out of town shopping centres (remember the Metro Centre wasn't open then) that's done way more damage.

(24 Aug 2020, 9:11 pm)James101 wrote Curious to hear by what measure you think Edinburgh and Nottingham are doing no better than Stagecoach in Hartlepool?

Network population coverage? Passenger satisfaction? Profit? Emissions?

(25 Aug 2020, 8:17 am)Rob44 wrote As a regular up in Edinburgh i have to disagree. The bus service up there is 100% better than anything down here ( from my experience). Great prices, regular buses, real time information that actually works. Clean bus and MOST of the time pleasant drivers.

(25 Aug 2020, 8:17 am)Rob44 wrote As a regular up in Edinburgh i have to disagree. The bus service up there is 100% better than anything down here ( from my experience). Great prices, regular buses, real time information that actually works. Clean bus and MOST of the time pleasant drivers.

(24 Aug 2020, 8:09 pm)Economic505 wrote The Flex is a good DRT service but the Mayor’s party wrecked bus services with the 1985 Transport Act . Bus competition fizzled out by the early 1990s.

(27 Aug 2020, 10:27 am)Andreos1 wrote Used this for the first time recently. 
Ordered it from Saltburn Station to Guisborough.
It was chucking down, so rushed to the canopy outside the station and saw a bus parked at the main bus stops.
Rushed over, approached bus and found out that it wasn't ours. Driver was freindly enough, pointed out he only had one booking and that was to go to Skelton. 
Reminded us of the reg details appearing on the app and waited for his passenger. Seconds later, our vehicle appeared (it was one of the new 69 plates) and we boarded. As MrsC had already paid by PayPal, there wasn't much else for us to do. The driver confirmed we paid and we made our way to our seats.
Got to Guisborough just a few minutes later and off we went. 
There was already one vehicle in Guisborough dropping someone off and another pulled in, dropping someone else off.

Didn't use the USB ports and thought the seats were reasonably comfortable (not luxurious at all) for the trip.

The trip cost £4.50 - which is cheaper than a taxi.
I can't help feeling that even in these times of social distancing, that the service could be used in a more cost effective manner. 
Sticking us on the bus which went to Skelton and having it continue down the road would have added 5mins to the journey.
The buses arriving either side of us in to Guisborough, can't have come that far bearing in mind the size of the zone. Could loads have been consolidated from these 4 vehicles on to fewer?

(28 Aug 2020, 6:47 pm)Adrian wrote Strange one that. You'd think their system would have combined those two journeys into one, as you suggest. 

I actually wonder how profitable the service is, if they're looking to expand it further. I noticed that Houchen was quoted in the press stating an average of around 1,070 a week, but that doesn't sound very healthy in the grand scheme of things. I was trying to work out some numbers on it. 

I've no idea how many of the 11 vehicles are on the road at once, but assuming:
- an estimated 9 vehicles on the road at one time 
- an estimated average of £12 an hour to run
- an estimated average that each vehicle is out for 10 hours a day

...would cost £1,080 a day or £6,480 a week to run. 

If your average fare of those 1,070 passengers a week was £3, you'd still only gross £3,210 a week. In reality its going to be a lot less than that, depending on what rebate they receive for concessions. I'd suggest its nowhere near £3 though.

(28 Aug 2020, 6:47 pm)Adrian wrote Strange one that. You'd think their system would have combined those two journeys into one, as you suggest. 

I actually wonder how profitable the service is, if they're looking to expand it further. I noticed that Houchen was quoted in the press stating an average of around 1,070 a week, but that doesn't sound very healthy in the grand scheme of things. I was trying to work out some numbers on it. 

I've no idea how many of the 11 vehicles are on the road at once, but assuming:
- an estimated 9 vehicles on the road at one time 
- an estimated average of £12 an hour to run
- an estimated average that each vehicle is out for 10 hours a day

...would cost £1,080 a day or £6,480 a week to run. 

If your average fare of those 1,070 passengers a week was £3, you'd still only gross £3,210 a week. In reality its going to be a lot less than that, depending on what rebate they receive for concessions. I'd suggest its nowhere near £3 though.

(29 Aug 2020, 7:23 am)James101 wrote Is it’s purpose ever to become profitable? Tees Flex is an effective replacement for most of the Boroughbus network. Is Flex instead of having a supported network of scheduled services, which the Tees Valley has none (bar the handful of journeys about to come in from Arriva)?

Personally, I’d measure its success by comparing passenger engagement on Tees Flex versus the same amount on money spent on supporting scheduled buses.

(29 Aug 2020, 7:23 am)James101 wrote Is it’s purpose ever to become profitable? Tees Flex is an effective replacement for most of the Boroughbus network. Is Flex instead of having a supported network of scheduled services, which the Tees Valley has none (bar the handful of journeys about to come in from Arriva)?

Personally, I’d measure its success by comparing passenger engagement on Tees Flex versus the same amount on money spent on supporting scheduled buses.

(29 Aug 2020, 7:23 am)James101 wrote Is it’s purpose ever to become profitable? Tees Flex is an effective replacement for most of the Boroughbus network. Is Flex instead of having a supported network of scheduled services, which the Tees Valley has none (bar the handful of journeys about to come in from Arriva)?

Personally, I’d measure its success by comparing passenger engagement on Tees Flex versus the same amount on money spent on supporting scheduled buses.

(29 Aug 2020, 10:20 am)Andreos1 wrote Whilst I agree that the system is very unlikely to turn a profit, there are still ways it can be managed and operated in a more efficient manner. 
The examples I referred to, can't be the only times something similar has happened. 

What might be a weakness in the booking system, has the potential to make any loss even greater.

The service has stepped in to fill the gaps left over after commercial operators decided there wasn't enough brass. 
I applaud the idea of the network - but I'm not sure it should exist in the first place.

(29 Aug 2020, 11:16 am)Adrian wrote Is it an effective replacement though? The Mayor's own numbers would suggest that less than 100 people a day are using it, if you assume that the majority are making a return trip - less than 0.02% of the population of the Tees Valley. 

If its not intended to be profitable, then in my opinion that has to be countered by showing there's a clear benefit of providing the service. I really hope that this becomes really popular and well used, but based on those numbers so far, I'm yet to be convinced whether it'll last beyond the initial 3 year contract.

(30 Aug 2020, 5:39 pm)col87 wrote Yes its supposed to make a profit as the combined authority are only supporting it for 3 years.  The idea then is for stagecoach or whoever to take it on commercially. I had several arguments on a local politics group with the Hartlepool Council leader last year pointing out that it wont work and so far that seems to be the case.