(16 May 2021, 9:33 am)Dan wrote No - and nobody is suggesting that there is - but what has been repeated time and time again is that the successful operator of any contract to run bus services should be running the service as it was tendered.
Once a company starts repeatedly not running the contract as it was tendered - be it continued lost mileage, continued running of the wrong route and missing out stops, or otherwise - this means it's no longer a level playing field, and gives that company an unfair advantage on all the other operators who tendered for that service, be it commercial or independent, who submitted their price based on running the service as it was tendered.
We have seen vehicle shortages this week which are reported to be as a result of vandalism in Pennywell on an evening. This isn't Gateshead Central Taxis' fault, but it is their responsibility to have an adequate number of spare vehicles to operate all their services. Most commercial operators have a 12-14% spare vehicle allocation (and this needs to be factored into the cost of any tender that operators submit), and it would be interesting to see how this compares against Gateshead Central Taxis' spare vehicle allocation.
Whilst Nexus might not have a money tree growing outside on St. James' Boulevard, I would think that they still expect that what little money they do have to maintain these 'socially necessary' bus services, going to Gateshead Central Taxis in most cases, to be spent on services which do actually run. It is not acceptable for Gateshead Central Taxis to be paid for services they are not operating.
It's not just about the cost, it's about the value, GCT may be cheap, but they certainly ain't good value for money.
Surely the goal should be to try and drive up passenger numbers on the contracted route to get it to a point where it doesn't need the financial support, GCT seem to be doing the complete opposite!