(26 Feb 2017, 2:56 pm)Michael wrote Thanks EL1TE, they seem to be arriving quick now.

(26 Feb 2017, 5:34 pm)Dan wrote 713 arrived at Saltmeadows Road on 17/02/17.

697 arrived at Saltmeadows Road on 22/02/17.

712 and 714 arrived at Saltmeadows Road on 23/02/17.

710 and 711 arrived at Saltmeadows Road on 24/02/17, as well as refurbished Merc Citaro 5285.

So they're all here now!

(27 Feb 2017, 8:30 pm)mb134 wrote Am I missing something with these taglines? What exactly is the point in highlighting that "many of buses have WiFi" on a vehicle doesn't have it? 

I imagine that vehicle will be the usual allocation for whatever route it is being used on, and as such the passengers will never actually experience the WiFi that the tagline is bragging about.

(27 Feb 2017, 8:30 pm)mb134 wrote Am I missing something with these taglines? What exactly is the point in highlighting that "many of buses have WiFi" on a vehicle doesn't have it? 

I imagine that vehicle will be the usual allocation for whatever route it is being used on, and as such the passengers will never actually experience the WiFi that the tagline is bragging about.

(27 Feb 2017, 8:45 pm)S813 FVK wrote I don't see what is wrong with it? The tagline does not say 'this bus has free wifi' - it just gives the general fact that many Go North East buses have free wifi. To me that bus has no features, as none of the blobs have been applied.

(27 Feb 2017, 8:47 pm)mb134 wrote What kind of message does that give to the passengers of that service though? 

'We don't really care about you, but look what we're giving to other services!' is what I'd take from it.

(27 Feb 2017, 8:50 pm)Dan wrote Surely the taglines on 5211 and 5324 are appealing to new potential customers? Those who perhaps don't use buses at present?

The taglines don't advertise that the bus it is featured on has Wi-Fi or power sockets - that is of course the purpose of the feature symbols after all.

Many buses in Sunderland do have Wi-Fi - you could find this out by visiting gonortheast.co.uk (which is prominently shown on the livery in addition to the yellow tagline). Agree the one on 5324 could have been used better on a spare bus at a different depot - perhaps at Riverside, where many buses do have power sockets.

Or maybe I've missed the point..?

(27 Feb 2017, 8:50 pm)Dan wrote Surely the taglines on 5211 and 5324 are appealing to new potential customers? Those who perhaps don't use buses at present?

The taglines don't advertise that the bus it is featured on has Wi-Fi or power sockets - that is of course the purpose of the feature symbols after all.

Many buses in Sunderland do have Wi-Fi - you could find this out by visiting gonortheast.co.uk (which is prominently shown on the livery in addition to the yellow tagline). Agree the one on 5324 could have been used better on a spare bus at a different depot - perhaps at Riverside, where many buses do have power sockets.

Or maybe I've missed the point..?

(27 Feb 2017, 8:54 pm)Dan wrote Are you suggesting the same of Arriva's Sapphire brand?

"Look; we've got a nice premium Sapphire specification bus on that route, but you can enjoy your bog standard bus with no premium features on this route!"

(27 Feb 2017, 9:00 pm)mb134 wrote If I was a new customer, and saw a bus with the tagline present on 5211, I'd assume that 5211 would have free WiFi - why would it be highlighting it otherwise?

If GNE are using this as a tagline, they obviously must see WiFi as something that increases passenger numbers. A potential passenger may see the tagline on 5211 and consider using that service because in their mind that bus has WiFi.

(27 Feb 2017, 9:00 pm)mb134 wrote If I was a new customer, and saw a bus with the tagline present on 5211, I'd assume that 5211 would have free WiFi - why would it be highlighting it otherwise?

If GNE are using this as a tagline, they obviously must see WiFi as something that increases passenger numbers. A potential passenger may see the tagline on 5211 and consider using that service because in their mind that bus has WiFi.

(27 Feb 2017, 9:01 pm)mb134 wrote The difference is that Arriva don't apply "Look at our shiny Sapphire bus" taglines to their standard vehicles...

(27 Feb 2017, 9:02 pm)Dan wrote Why would you assume this?

The tagline says "many of our buses" - not "this bus".

If I was a new customer, I would be inclined to visit gonortheast.co.uk to find out more about a service which I could use, if free Wi-Fi was something that could get me to use buses. My local service would be the Prince Bishops 20. I would discover on the website that this service does have Wi-Fi, and I may wish to change from my current preferred method of travelling to using the Prince Bishops 20 service instead.

(27 Feb 2017, 9:05 pm)Dan wrote Arriva market their premium Sapphire and MAX brands all of the time - on social media, in printed formats, etc etc.

Just look at the timetable Kuyoyo shared earlier for the X93. More effort has gone into designing that timetable than a standard service.

Applying the same logic as you have in your previous posts, this must be Arriva showboating a premium service in favour of other 'bog standard' services such as the 9, 28, etc?

(27 Feb 2017, 9:13 pm)mb134 wrote Again, I'd argue that that is quite a bit different. Passengers of every other service aren't faced with Sapphire/MAX taglines on their bus every day.

(27 Feb 2017, 9:05 pm)Dan wrote Arriva market their premium Sapphire and MAX brands all of the time - on social media, in printed formats, etc etc. The Coastliner buses at Jesmond were promoting onward connections to MAX services a while back in the form of posters along the cove panels of the bus. I believe some standard Pulsars at Stockton had the same.

Just look at the timetable Kuyoyo shared earlier for the X93. More effort has gone into designing that timetable than a standard service.

Applying the same logic as you have in your previous posts, this must be Arriva showboating a premium service in favour of other 'bog standard' services such as the 9, 28, etc?

(28 Feb 2017, 1:31 am)omnicity4659 wrote Most of the fleet has advertisements for "visit x" or "navigate to x"... Easy promotion for other services, not onboard features...

As for the X93 timetable, the same amount of effort has gone into designing that, it's just the generic design with a changeable background, whereas other timetables have photos of people (which would change when updated). 

What Arriva don't do is plaster crap on the sides of buses, and posters on board saying that free Wifi is available, power sockets etc... I got on an Angel the other day with a poster advertising USB points!

(28 Feb 2017, 6:02 am)Dan wrote Regarding the poster you saw on-board the Angel - it did not promote that that bus offered USB charging points. It promoted the fact that 1 in 3 of Go North East's buses have that feature - or something along those lines - similar to these new taglines.

(28 Feb 2017, 7:20 am)Ambassador wrote Informed by the genuinely lovely bloke driving the ex7.15 554 to Quorum that I'm his first passenger in 6 months to board at Haymarket.

I want a badge!

(28 Feb 2017, 4:16 pm)S813 FVK wrote Chester-le-Street appears to the next depot to have the old logos replaced with new logos. Reports that at least a few of the Angels have been done.

(28 Feb 2017, 4:18 pm)Dan wrote I believe Hexham was completed last week, after Deptford.