(22 May 2018, 8:05 am)Andreos1 wrote Just touching on timetable subject again and the lack of paper timetables.
Got chatting to an old fella at a stop last night. His Mrs was off to the hospital for an appointment this morning.
Attempts to get a paper timetable had failed, so he had volunteered/been volunteered to head down to the stop with a piece of paper and note down the times of the buses that could get them to the appointment in time (whether it did or not is another matter).
He couldn't understand why the operator had stopped doing them and why it became a chore just to find out what time the bus was due.
He went off with his own paper timetable before my bus arrived, quite frustrated.
I didn't ask what they were doing to get back home from the appointment...
I was invited to take part in a survey from the Go North East Passenger Panel. The survey focused on timetables and fare information covering subjects such as preference for paper or online information. They questioned how you obtain your information looking at paper, online or bus stop posters for example.
Until I reached the final part of the survey I thought that the questions were constructive with an intention of seeking genuine customer feedback. The final questions however were based around having access to the internet, well considering it was an online survey the answer has to be yes I do have internet access.
So if they justify the withdrawal of paper timetables based on that survey by saying the majority of customers have internet or smart phone access that result will be based on flawed survey data. Surely if you want to determine the percentage of customers with internet access you don’t do it as an online survey.