(14 Oct 2020, 5:03 pm)Andreos1 wrote The Coast Road corridor has been dog p!ssing territory for years now. A quick look of any zonal structure will add weight to the theory and that competition drives down prices.
However, if the market isn't there (metro, bus, car, taxi is a big divider), then you're going to see the empty buses and reductions to frequencies. Regardless of how attractive ticketing may be. It just isn't sustainable.

I'd also argue that the creation of the business parks on or near the A19 corridor has had an impact, particularly as businesses move there away from the city centre.

Something has to give and I can't see it being the attractive prices. I can see it being frequency or vehicle size though. 
The first operator to flinch and increase their ticket prices, will be the one who loses out imo.

Agreed.

At the moment there's very little loyalty from passengers on the Coast Road corridor. A lot of them are discretionary users who get on the first bus that turns up, but this is likely because each of the operators have very similarly priced (cheap!) ticketing.

The moment those prices are increased and a divide created, will be when passengers begin to show more loyalty towards the cheaper operator, regardless of when or how frequently they run.