(04 Mar 2021, 12:10 pm)Andreos1 wrote There needs to be so much done on this imo. 
I don't think the industry thinks beyond interiors (and some operators - liveries and/or blinds).
They think interiors will fix everything. I don't think that is the case at all. 
Creativity and thinking differently will and can make a difference imo. 

Passengers are stuck with a network which was developed however many years ago. It hasn't changed or evolved to meet passenger needs. 
Whilst there may be an increase if a new bus rocks up which has pleather seats, plugs and WiFi - I don't see how those methods will sustain numbers once passengers realise that it's the same as it always was. It just has a different label and a slightly different recipe. 

I was reading that R&C Council are looking in to introducing pay and display parking across Saltburn to combat/take advantage all of the visitors travelling by car.
That's despite two trains an hour and 8/9 buses an hour passing through the town. 
If people can't get to Saltburn using public transport at all or very easily (maybe they can via 2 buses, hanging around waiting for connections in Boro or Redcar AND then a walk), it doesn't matter how nice the interior is or what sort of competition there is - they're not going to use anything other than the car.

For me, the biggest barrier for using the bus for everything is definitely ticketing. 
As I've said before, most of my travel can be done with GNE despite the only GNE service in my area being the X21 (during normal times I'd be up and down to Newcastle several times a week). But the rest of my travel I really do need an Arriva ticket, so I'm stuck buying both an Arriva and GNE ticket separately.
I'm not paying £11 a day for the Network One ticket since it's cheaper for me to buy both day tickets.
They say they're going to introduce a Durham SmartZone ticket, but I'm guessing it won't be any use for me since it'd then still have to buy another ticket to use when I go up to Newcastle.

The thing is though, I honestly can't think of a way to solve the problem in a way that would be better for my use case than just buying an Arriva and GNE ticket!