(26 Oct 2021, 6:24 pm)DeltaMan wrote Remove the 71 in its current form.Extend one 33 a hour from Silksworth to Houghton then Chester-Le-Street.
Reintroduce a Chester to Houghton service leaving Chester every 30 mins at 07/37 (78 goes at 22/52). Then it departs Houghton 08/28 combining with the 78 at Lumley approximately 14/24/44/54 mins past each hour towards Chester. Thats the two 71 buses but with a more coordinated and more frequent timetable where the route is shared with the 78, making it more appealing with the same resource.
That leaves Seaham/Houghton...
One of the 55s follows the X1 to Peterlee (September, pre emergency timetable), so send that over once an hour to Seaham instead. It's being paid for by DCC, so at least won't be ghosting an X1 while it takes all the revenue!
I did have a other idea for the Seaham problem which involves the X1 instead of the 55, but would be too controversial...
I would also extend another to replace the 37.
You would then have the 33, 33A & 33B.
Not sure about Seaham - Houghton though.