(27 Feb 2020, 3:02 pm)Big O wrote Your definition of cheap and mine must be different. London services are no-thrills, NSA announcements on every bus, and some now have USB charging points and Wi-Fi. The difference is a better-integrated network which actually makes sense you using the bus over the car in a lot of cases. All the money spent on here to make buses fancy could be put into R&D to find out what the public want versus what the overheads think they want. A standard fare of £1.50 per journey and a hopper fare which means you can change as many times as you want in an hour is an attractive business model that has worked down there.The buses in the North East are much better compared to other areas. In Essex, it’s First territory, majority 15 year old buses, no WiFi, next stop announcements etc. 20 year old deckers on major services. Expensive, Old, Unreliable. GNE do good value tickets(a weekly ticket is more than 2x cheaper) and provide a good service. Fancy buses, that’s what customers want. London is heavily subsidised and don’t have WiFi and most don’t have USB ports. Businesses have to make a profit to survive. If GNE and Stagecoach did what London did, they’d be out of business.
RE: Pricing