(15 Jun 2015, 7:02 pm)big mac wrote Everyone gets on the Metro at Heworth because they have to. If the number 4 continued on to Gateshead and Newcastle then I'm sure passengers would remain on the bus rather than getting off to change onto the Metro. They'd be able to use bus only tickets as well rather than Transfares.
(15 Jun 2015, 7:12 pm)South Tyne Lad wrote Exactly, You'd get more people traveling on the 4 because people who travel by bus tend to avoid changing, they just want one through bus to Newcastle.
And the 4 terminates at a pretty stupid place. Anyways who wants to travel from Houghton to Heworth?
Extending it to Eldon Square would be really easy with the 3 extra Streetlite Max Micro Hybrid suggested in my order prediction.
But why would they use it if the journey times would potentially be longer? I'm using the 27 route between Heworth and Newcastle to calculate timings, as there's nothing else to go from:
Bus + Metro
4 - Galleries to Washington = 17 minutes
Metro - Heworth to Newcastle = 9 minutes
= 26 minutes (minus connection time)
4 Direct
4 - Galleries to Washington = 17 minutes
27 - Heworth to Newcastle = 19 minutes
= 36 minutes (minus connection time)
X1 Direct
X1 - Galleries to Newcastle = 32 minutes
I can't see why people wouldn't just jump on the X1 at the Galleries if they were headed for Gateshead or Newcastle? They'd save themselves a bit of time in the process, and it's not too far from the Metro when you take into account connection times.