(18 Nov 2021, 9:58 pm)DeltaMan wrote There are numerous ways CONC reimbursements are calculated to ensure a bus operator is "no better or worse off", most of them pretty complex and non of them I am aware only look at average single fares as there has to be an assumption that some of those passholder would have bought day or weekly tickets if it wasn't for the free pass.

There is a nice 120 page guide on the DfT website for those wanting knowledge of the matter and the actual guidance for calculations

(18 Nov 2021, 8:23 pm)54APhotography wrote Hence why I buy Day Rider Plus or All zones

(18 Nov 2021, 11:04 pm)idiot wrote Some light bedtime reading there. No thanks lol ?

(22 Nov 2021, 9:54 pm)Storx wrote Surprised no-one has linked this but it's the plan - https://www.transportnortheast.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/TNE-BSIP_FINAL.pdf

Some noticeable things:

Network One Daily Caps:
T&W - £5
Northumberland - £5
Durham - £4
All Zones - £6.80

Super Route Green (Every 10 Mins) and Red Routes (Every 5 Mins) map - P99

Night Bus Network - P102

The Bus Corridors for Improvements - P120

Park and Ride sites - P129
There's an awful lot of them planned, more than expected tbh.

P141 - A nice graph saying the reasons people aren't using the bus from the Big Bus Survey that I'm sure Andreos1 will enjoy.

(22 Nov 2021, 10:08 pm)Adrian wrote Cheers - without going through it word for word, I think it's the same document that I have listed on my site and posted last week. The version I have was extracted out of the JTC minutes before it was published on there though, so it wasn't accessible.

I have added it to the list 

(23 Nov 2021, 5:45 pm)deanmachine wrote The night bus network is very interesting (to me at least anyways, already being on the Deptford night rota). I do think having the same as day time routes helps a lot, and think this could help the 56 get even stronger with more links for Nissan. A few regulars already go to Newcastle and I have a feeling the have a bit of a walk home after they get off in Market Street. I'm sure other shift workers will be equally as happy, but I think there could be a few more links elsewhere in the network, an all night number 4 as well as the 20. I'm glad the night network seems to cover the whole Metro network during the night too.

Another point, a lot of these "superbus green routes" are currently at every 12 minutes or 15 minutes, I wonder if this means more investment in putting them back to every 10 minutes, as there's not many 10 minute services anymore. Take the 20 for example, there's been 4 streetlites taken out of the PVR since they were first introduced back in 2016, all of which would probably need to be put back in to make it a reliable 10 minute service again.

(22 Nov 2021, 9:54 pm)Storx wrote Surprised no-one has linked this but it's the plan - https://www.transportnortheast.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/TNE-BSIP_FINAL.pdf

Some noticeable things:

Network One Daily Caps:
T&W - £5
Northumberland - £5
Durham - £4
All Zones - £6.80

Super Route Green (Every 10 Mins) and Red Routes (Every 5 Mins) map - P99

Night Bus Network - P102

The Bus Corridors for Improvements - P120

Park and Ride sites - P129
There's an awful lot of them planned, more than expected tbh.

P141 - A nice graph saying the reasons people aren't using the bus from the Big Bus Survey that I'm sure Andreos1 will enjoy. 

 
Despite the insights gathered from the Big Bus Conversation, there is still scope to further the research into the attitudes of people who never use the bus at all, so that we have an enhanced body of research at a regional, strategic level to drive patronage growth and modal share.

(23 Nov 2021, 5:45 pm)deanmachine wrote The night bus network is very interesting (to me at least anyways, already being on the Deptford night rota). I do think having the same as day time routes helps a lot, and think this could help the 56 get even stronger with more links for Nissan. A few regulars already go to Newcastle and I have a feeling the have a bit of a walk home after they get off in Market Street. I'm sure other shift workers will be equally as happy, but I think there could be a few more links elsewhere in the network, an all night number 4 as well as the 20. I'm glad the night network seems to cover the whole Metro network during the night too.

Another point, a lot of these "superbus green routes" are currently at every 12 minutes or 15 minutes, I wonder if this means more investment in putting them back to every 10 minutes, as there's not many 10 minute services anymore. Take the 20 for example, there's been 4 streetlites taken out of the PVR since they were first introduced back in 2016, all of which would probably need to be put back in to make it a reliable 10 minute service again.

(23 Nov 2021, 5:49 pm)Dan wrote It’s probably more about corridors than individual routes - the 20/55/X20 for example offer a 7-8 min frequency between East Herrington and Sunderland.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

(23 Nov 2021, 5:45 pm)deanmachine wrote The night bus network is very interesting (to me at least anyways, already being on the Deptford night rota). I do think having the same as day time routes helps a lot, and think this could help the 56 get even stronger with more links for Nissan. A few regulars already go to Newcastle and I have a feeling the have a bit of a walk home after they get off in Market Street. I'm sure other shift workers will be equally as happy, but I think there could be a few more links elsewhere in the network, an all night number 4 as well as the 20. I'm glad the night network seems to cover the whole Metro network during the night too.

Another point, a lot of these "superbus green routes" are currently at every 12 minutes or 15 minutes, I wonder if this means more investment in putting them back to every 10 minutes, as there's not many 10 minute services anymore. Take the 20 for example, there's been 4 streetlites taken out of the PVR since they were first introduced back in 2016, all of which would probably need to be put back in to make it a reliable 10 minute service again.

(23 Nov 2021, 10:57 pm)Keeiajs wrote Really afaik 

20/60/56/X1/21 have all be cut down. They don't need any extra buses for these, they already have them, they have just been painted or some instances are still in the livery of the brand.

(23 Nov 2021, 10:48 pm)Storx wrote Yeah agreed mind the arguably busiest part of the Metro outside the core isn't covered at all which is a bit of a surprise from Jesmond -> Whitley Bay excluding FLE without any services to Team Valley, Cobalt or Quorum which you'd think there would be some demand. Not sure what you could do though without doing a TFL type night bus which only exists in the evening. It would arguably be better for the 22 aswell which is a bit confusing and out of area.

(24 Nov 2021, 12:05 am)Storx wrote Reading through the lines but it's not exactly clear what it is. X Lines etc are on borrowed time to be replaced by Super Route Red (Every 5 Mins), Super Route Green (Every 10 Mins), Interurban Express (Every 15 Mins), Connect (Every 30 Mins) and Rural (Less Frequent) with DRT thrown in aswell.

The X30/X31/X70/X71/X72 (GNE) X14/X15/X18 (Arriva) are all to be Interurban Express though.
The 1/2/57/57A/New 30 Min Cramington -> Morpeth (Arriva) are all to be Connect services. (Page 101)

(24 Nov 2021, 12:05 am)Storx wrote Reading through the lines but it's not exactly clear what it is. X Lines etc are on borrowed time to be replaced by Super Route Red (Every 5 Mins), Super Route Green (Every 10 Mins), Interurban Express (Every 15 Mins), Connect (Every 30 Mins) and Rural (Less Frequent) with DRT thrown in aswell.

The X30/X31/X70/X71/X72 (GNE) X14/X15/X18 (Arriva) are all to be Interurban Express though.
The 1/2/57/57A/New 30 Min Cramington -> Morpeth (Arriva) are all to be Connect services. (Page 101)

(24 Nov 2021, 11:53 am)Adrian wrote I suppose it all comes down to what the reference of "the creation of a unified brand; having a consistent approach to customer service at every point in the journey;" means, which is listed as the opportunity around branding within the BSIP document.

On one hand you could say it equates to the understanding in a Franchising model, e.g. TfL all red buses with the buses roundall, or Manchester moving towards a TfGM consistent branding with the Tram, but in a partnership, it could be like the West Yorkshire Metro example, with the logo being present at bus stations, train stations and on buses, but buses and trains still running under their own corporate branding. Either way, I hope it means a lot more than just a lucrative contract for a certain designer.

On the Xlines example though, I'd say that's something that could be expanded on and rolled out to similar services by other operators in terms of consistency.

(24 Nov 2021, 11:53 am)Adrian wrote I suppose it all comes down to what the reference of "the creation of a unified brand; having a consistent approach to customer service at every point in the journey;" means, which is listed as the opportunity around branding within the BSIP document.

On one hand you could say it equates to the understanding in a Franchising model, e.g. TfL all red buses with the buses roundall, or Manchester moving towards a TfGM consistent branding with the Tram, but in a partnership, it could be like the West Yorkshire Metro example, with the logo being present at bus stations, train stations and on buses, but buses and trains still running under their own corporate branding. Either way, I hope it means a lot more than just a lucrative contract for a certain designer.

On the Xlines example though, I'd say that's something that could be expanded on and rolled out to similar services by other operators in terms of consistency.

(24 Nov 2021, 6:53 pm)mb134 wrote Having a quick skim through there - honestly the entire thing seems pie in the sky. 

The "Superbus" thing is an absolute minefield - let's be honest with current Sunday trading laws nobody needs a bus every 7 mins on a Sunday (given they have a category for this, I'm assuming they feel like multiple routes would fall into it). The resultant night network is baffling as well, and very Newcastle centric as per - the Durham to Bishop 6 is allegedly a Superbus route somewhere in the document yet doesn't get a nightbus?

Some of the "ITS"/bus priority things will simply never happen, or at least not in the scale they're talking about. Some of the places/amounts of money are bizarre too, whats the £255k for at Morpeth?

While I appreciate buses in the NE need to improve, and things like night buses and bus priority are part of that, this "plan" seems like over promise and under deliver by quite a large amount. 

Had a bit of a chuckle at "However, from a customer perspective, the complex range of brands, different fare offers, and complex timetables have significant limitations and are not tied together through a unified bus network brand." in a paper fronted by the MD of a company introducing new brands like they're going out of fashion...

(24 Nov 2021, 8:55 pm)Keeiajs wrote I am so confused at these Superbus, Greenbus, redbus. Can somoene dumb it down please

(24 Nov 2021, 10:20 pm)Andreos1 wrote Superbus is from the planet krypton and his arch enemies greenbus and redbus are out to destroy him.

They run just a couple of minutes ahead of Superbus along main corridors and use their powers to turn traffic lights red.
Superbus has a weakness when it comes to loose change and kryptonite.

City Bus Station.JPG (Size 481.97 KB | Downloads 30)

(05 Feb 2022, 10:57 pm)Malarkey wrote Whilst in Newcastle this afternoon I was having a think about where a New Bus Station could be positioned, and if space was to be repurposed I think Central Station would be a good shout for a small/medium sized station for services which operate via Central Station. This would mean pick up/drop off zones being moved and road layout changing also.

Highlighted in "Lime Green" we have Clayton Street West, Berwick Street, Neville Street running down onto Collingwood Street which would have traffic in both direction thus eliminating the current one-way system which from what I have seen causing considerable congestion around the Station.

Highlighted in "Blue" we have the new Pick Up/Drop Off zone and Station Taxi rank with further space created by removal of existing bus stops on Neville Street.

Highlighted in "Red" is where the new Bus Station would be positioned with traffic priority in place on exit via Neville Street/Clayton Street West, The new Station would integrate with Local/National Rail Network and I was also thinking of utilising this a Hub for Nat Ex/Megabus/Flixbus and Day Tour Ops to Pick Up with the Nat Ex Coach Station Closing to facilitate for another Pick Up/Drop Off Zone for Central Station. It would also provide a safer space during the evening as current layout leaves you prone to the elements such as bad weather.

In terms of a layout i'd have it the same as Haymarket with it being adjoined onto the current Central Station building if this is possible. 

(06 Feb 2022, 7:19 am)54APhotography wrote I wouldn't expect building listing would allow for much change to the building at Central, but removal of the drop off area and routing of buses through there would make more sense. When there was impetus behind a metro terminus at Central (for a western extension via Scotswood, Metro Centre and beyond), the parcels area was the choice, therefore removing the car park/staff access which would make a problem for a bus only section. Despite appearance on google earth, there isn't an awful lot of 'length' for a long line of stops, unless you had two 'platforms', but even then the one closest to the A186 would have to be shorter to allow for the squeeze as the road swings towards the exit.