(04 Feb 2021, 11:04 am)Andreos1 wrote It's those priorities again. 
I think the coaches are a positive step-change in what has been used recently, but like all the repaints, the faffing around with blinds, fluorescent lights on the sides of buses - these plates aren't really that important in the grand scheme of things.
Certainly not, compared to the ensuring the network is fit for purpose and people can get where they need to be. 
It's all fine and well having these things, but if it takes 2 or 3 buses to get to the hospital for appointments or  it's not possible to get home from a shift...
Sorting those things are the priority imo. Not cherished plates.

You have voiced this opinion lots of times recently, and it's rare that others contribute afterwards (I too have resisted comment until now), but couldn't you say much of this about every bus operator in the region?

Over the last few years especially; each of the 'big three' has reduced service levels, covering gaps as best as they can, in order to reduce costs and increase profitability. You have your views on this, and have voiced them in the past many times over the years, but this is the business model of bus companies, and you know that (despite the views and opinions you may have on it). These service reductions do obviously come at the detriment of the customer, and operators' desires to maintain as many links as possible probably adds layers of complexity to the network too. Very little has been done to develop the network and implement real, noticeable improvements. This is unfortunate, I agree.

The current funding arrangements (CBSSG) prevent operators from making significant changes to their networks, which is why services such as the 925 and 938 exist in Go North East's network currently. Go North East has made very minor changes to its network in response to customer feedback and by identifying gaps in the market where there is potential, such as the diversion of services 83/84 via Peel Retail Park, and the extension of the 10B service to Tyneview Retail Park.

Unlike most other operators in the country who have simply stood still during the past 10 months, Go North East has continued to invest and use this as an opportunity to deliver a positive impact in what they are able to control, which is their marketing and promotion of bus services (i.e. everything which, in your view, isn't important). Clearly it would not be ethical to promote bus use right now, when the government guidance is that passengers should only be making essential trips only on public transport, but repainting and refurbishing the fleet, and making real improvements in terms of the quality on-board, means that the company will be in a position to better promote their services as we emerge out of the current pandemic. Clearly we have opposing views here, but in the absence of being able to make a difference with the network right now, I think Go North East's actions over the last ten months are commendable.

I am not suggesting that everything Go North East has done of late will deliver improvements and allow the company to be in better standing to increase patronage post-COVID, such as your examples of the 'faffing around' with destination displays. Clearly that's not related, and the fact such changes have been avoided until the current MD's tenure would suggest who is responsible for it, but in the current climate the alternative would of course be to go down the route that Arriva has, where marketing teams have been centralised, and as we were reminded elsewhere on the forum recently, commercial team headcounts reduced, delivering absolutely no benefits whatsoever to their passengers.