(26 Oct 2020, 12:37 pm)Andreos1 wrote I think that we are living in the legacy of a number of factors. Some political, some fed by the media, those changes to working habits and some because of the operational decisions made by operators.
There's no way operators could have predicted this sort of pandemic and I applaud the way they have reacted and responded in the way of introducing additional services where required. 
However, I do think the way single ticket pricing has increased, hub & spoke models have seen changes to routes and the hours which depots are seemingly restricted to operationally, has a part to play.

Like you, my car is in the garage today. I've used courtesy cars in the recent past as public transport just wasn't viable and has proven extremely expensive or not feasible due to journey times. Today I was fortunate that MrsC was able to bring me home using her car.

It is all fine and well having fancy buses (which have the same facilities as the majority of cars). But if the journey time, pricing and operational hours don't suit people, they ain't going to use them for work, pleasure or after dropping the car off at the garage. 

As for the covid19 stuff, I do think operators need to look at how they can grow numbers quickly and aggressively in the current situation. 
Having lesser spotted bus hygienists and fog spray is just a part of changing people's mindsets. Regardless of how good it may be.

And the problem with trying to lure people back is that under our current tier or higher (which we're bound to end up in, despite tyneside's numbers dropping) is that we're currently advised to only use public transport for essential journeys only, where there is no alternative.