I had a bit of a bash around Teesside and East Cleveland using an Explorer ticket yesterday.
With no set plan - other than to head home a different way.
Made my way to Boro and decided to have a decent run out on the Sapphire network down there.
Apart from quick hops, I hadn't spent serious time on the bus network down there for a good while and hadn't sampled an ANE Streetlite.
I loved the shades of blue on the mini-roundabout at the entrance/exit to the bus station though
.I quickly noted the lack of a rattle on the emergency exit - for each Streetlite I sampled. Much quieter than the batch GNE have (have yet to use the Deptford examples).
They seemed to change up gears very quickly, which wasn't ideal on the faster stretches of road. I also sensed the drivers taking roundabouts with caution. I am guessing the back ends can be twitchy.
I do like the approach ANE take to using SMS and advertising the fleet number in prominent locations inside the bus too.
I wish I tried the number to check on the procedure, as no plug sockets worked (is this a problem with all Streetlites - never had a working example yet).
The WiFi was great. I noticed the registration process, similar to other public WiFi providers.
All in all, a canny day out - except I ended up coming home using the same routes as heading down...