(16 Apr 2020, 10:37 am)Storx wrote If you do this you might aswell terminate the 309 at Cobalt and have a few peak runs to Blyth as no-one will use it and downgrade them all to mini buses. This isn't the first time you've totally ignored 3/4 of a bus route. The 309 is Newcastle -> Battle Hill -> Cobalt -> N Tyneside Hospital -> Whitley Bay -> Seaton Sluice -> South Beach -> Blyth. You've just gone and decimated the bit in bold from every 15 mins to 30 mins, where there's competition with Arriva who will be laughing. You do realise the 308 is one of Arriva NE's top performing routes right?You've got to remember that there will likely (although 100% certain) be a lot of changes to people's travel patterns post C19 for various reasons. Bus operators (not just GNE) will need to likely adapt to that and change their services to reflect the shift in travel patterns.
For starters, 3/4 of a route wouldn't be ignored. The frequency would be reduced to reflect demand and I can see Arriva even potentially doing the same (albeit every 20 minutes each). GNE for all we know might just decide to 'sweat it out' and wait for Arriva & Stagecoach to crack by cutting their frequencies and service levels (22, 22x, x6, 306, 308) and subsequently come out better off.
The timings BTW aren't an idea as such but more a thought of what could potentially be implemented by GNE in response to changing travel patterns.
But as I've said above, all operators will likely need to adapt various routes in response to travel patterns potentially changing.