(25 May 2020, 10:45 am)Storx wrote This is a bad idea imo. The reason the 39 struggles is it barely has a purpose. Pennywell -> Sunderland is Stagecoach territory with the 20, Doxford Park to Sunderland is also Stagecoach territory with the 4 and 12. Then the rest of the route is mostly duplicated by the 2 which runs all night so the majority of the route has a service anyway.

Unless you suddenly have some reason for a massive demand between Grangetown / Ryhope to Doxford Park and Washington to Chester Road there's no need for it being every 10 minutes whereas the sections which are popular Silksworth -> Sunderland and Chester Road your decreasing to every 10 minutes from every 7.5 minutes. Not to mention your also making the route slower between Sunderland and Penshaw and onwards.

Personally I'd just renumber the 39 to the number 1 and market is as one bus route every 7.5 minutes with different endings. The core of the 39 is the same as the 2 anyway.

Exactly so what is the point in it continuing to operate in it's guise when it is a dupe of another service for the majority of it's route, why not streamline that section into one service and by having it on a reduced frequency would also aid reliability across the route also.

Do you think a passenger is going to be that bothered about waiting 2 and half minutes extra for a bus?

Before you answer the question the likes of the 2/2A/4/26/27/56/97 & X1 have all had decreases in frequency in the last 3 years in order to improve reliability and to save money in the long term, this has also aided in the withdrawl from service of older buses in fleet, again another benefit for passengers.