(04 May 2020, 8:40 pm)James101 wrote Return of the minibus revolution? Whatever you think of them those Fiats and Stratas must bus a damn sight cheaper to operate. Hopefully integrated ticketing can be arranged or passenger numbers could decline to a point where it’s not worth securing the service.
Perhaps! I actually found the EVM to be ideal for the 689, when I tried that out a couple of month ago.
I don't know about the 39, but those Washington services could certainly get away with using an EVM most evenings. I just cannot see operators being willing to heavily invest in them, when the only reward is a 1 year contract. Then there's the added problem of what do they do the rest of the time.
(04 May 2020, 8:40 pm)Michael wrote Will the Sunderland smart zone passes be accepted?
I'd hope Nexus would have considered that in their acceptance of an economically advantageous bid. In Washington for example, the day and week tickets are priced at £3.60 and £15.00 respectively. The multi-operator alternative to that would be £7.80* a day or £20.10 a week - or a 34% - 116% price increase, if you look at it that way!
* Day Rover as there is no zonal multi operator version of a day ticket.