(05 Aug 2020, 3:55 pm)Andreos1 wrote A bus before 3am when the tickets expire? Aye, cos there's a boat load of buses kicking around at 3am...
It's hard enough getting a bus beyond 11pm in most places, never mind 3am, so the chances of the majority getting a bus back is slim to nil simply due to last orders.
The point about tesco is that they're taking money for stock left on their shelves.
If seats on buses equate to opportunities to make money (just like that bread), then you can see how lower fares could attract customers.
Do you continue to price the seats/bread at a price that isn't very attractive or do you adapt the price and see demand increasing?
As ambassador said, those people who could pay one way to the pub, but don't - are the people that bus operators want to make a modal switch.
A 21 to Low Fell and an N21 back would tick a fare few boxes.
As it is, a taxi there and back for a group is probably cheaper. So not only do GNE lose out on the 21 fare, but they lose out on the N21 fare too.
Even if the N21 wasn't operating, a group heading out and paying x per head, can make all sorts of difference to the viability of a route.
Charging those group of 5, a pound a pop makes more difference to the GNE coffers than it does having the same group sitting in a taxi and adding to the traffic delays along the way.
Add in the fact that the average 21 on a pre-covid 19 Friday night heading in to Newcastle, is overtaken by half a dozen taxis on the way...
That patter about not going far, sums up how far removed from real-life, ignorant or niaeve some of the posts on this forum really are.
'It doesn't apply to me, so doesn't exist' mentality. I often wonder if the powers that be within the operators are of the same mindset.
Sorry to hark on about my own experiences, rather than yours on the X21, but I used to do an absolute boat load of work in Glasgow. The (approx) 18:25 North from Durham was my go to. Paying what I did per mile for my single trip on the 20s made me change how I got to the station.
You're right in what you say about the journey not being far. It made the cost per mile even worse.
I don't disagree with you there, that's exactly what they've done introducing the evening and group tickets. Some money is better than no money, and like you say, it reduces the traffic they have to get through on a night.
Perhaps it's because I grew up with everyone in my family running businesses and studied business management, but I personally don't have an issue paying more per mile for a shorter journey. That's the economies of scale. It's the same way a 500ml bottle of Pepsi can cost you £1.10 in Tesco, but a 1.15l bottle is only 5p more.
(05 Aug 2020, 11:09 pm)BusLoverMum wrote Did the 24 hour tickets go the journey, then?
It's still available on the app, although all mention of it seems to have disappeared from the website!