(25 Dec 2021, 12:15 am)busmanT wrote The big question is "can Go North East afford to offer the bargain fares it currently is doing"? or are some of them just ludicrously cheap. Fares that were nearly £5 now only £1.70. How long will these offers be extended?
£1.70 flat fare in Gateshead is too cheap - Nottingham City for example have a flat fare of £2.40.

I'd say a bigger question is "can they afford not to offer the bargain fares they are currently doing"

We know that a product is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it in any walk of life, and we from the latest and lauded Transport Focus survey that only 60% of fare-paying customers find the product on offer represents value for money (the lowest since the survey began).

There wasn't a 2020 report and I don't think we'll see a 2021 report either, but it'll be interesting to see if the next results reflect the work that has been done around fares, offers, discounts and what not. 

Some of the £1.70 fares are extremely cheap I agree, e.g. Newcastle to Blyth for £1.70 on the 309 is an absolute bargain whichever way you look at it, but others (e.g. Chester Road to Sunderland) I'd say are good value for money. If a couple can go for a night out in Sunderland at a combined £3.40 each way, then that's good enough to take two taxi journeys off the road.

Of course the numbers are important here, so it's a shame that this isn't being ran at the same time of having a representative number of customers travelling.