(28 May 2020, 7:44 pm)Andreos1 wrote Not really. At the narrowest point, Kells Lane is meters from Durham Road. Dryden Road then shadows it for its length. 
You wouldn't be losing that link at all. 

I'd suggest more people would be inconvenced losing a link to/from their local hospital, than those walking a couple of minutes down Lowreys Lane.

However, if the connection between the various parts of Birtley to the local hospital isn't well used, it goes back to my question the other day. Why? Why aren't people using the bus which serves the various estates of Birtley and beyond, to get to/from work, visiting or appointments at the QE? It's not as if the QE isn't a popular (and I use the word loosely) destination for the people of Gateshead (including the most vulnerable and possibly those in the lower demographics). The footfall is massive, yet here we are seeing direct bus services to it - reduced.
Just like we've seen in Sunderland.

It's a funny area. Birtley and Chester Le Street always reminds me of the similar issue that we have over my way near Whitley Bay where you have some direct lines where there's a really frequent service (21 / X12 route) but once you go off there it's a waste of time and the links are just generally slow (goes around the world), unfrequent and don't have evening services so you can't realistically rely on bus services or they're local routes so you have to change and there's nothing else; Waldridge Park etc.

It's a similar story here if you live on the 308/309 route or the 1/306 then you have an excellent service go off there and it's a waste of time. Briardene, Wellfield, Earsdon, Whitley Lodge, Monkseaton. It's no wonder bus usage is low and everything is subsidised in the area as it's simply not usable unless you like changing buses and paying multiple operators.

Could imagine that's why usage is low as people simply just don't use them. Making the route longer won't help matters neither.