(29 Dec 2021, 8:48 pm)Adrian wrote You should have a look through the BSIP plan in full, because the proposed Superbus routes (Red and Green) are included in the document. I use the term routes and not services, because it's illustrated as point to point between two places, not as GNE 1 or SNE 22 for example. See Page 99.

Doesn't look like the GNE 1 or SNE 22 in their current forms will be a Superbus route, as there's nothing between Wallsend and North Shields. There doesn't need to be either, as the Metro exists. North Shields to Whitley Bay and to Blyth are a Green route, so the proposal is a 10 minute daytime frequency along there.

I don't even think it's about BSIP being implemented or marked correctly at this stage. It's how much of the £804 million is going to be on offer, because around 40% of what was being asked for is revenue support "to subsidise the continuation of existing services in light of Covid-related financial shortfalls" and revenue support "to support the introduction of lower fares and expanded route networks." 

There's no published plan B, so it remains to be seen what can be done with the minimal amount of funding that we're likely to receive. We'll be lucky if we get 20% of what we've put in for.

To be fair under an Enhanced Partnership, there’s work that the operators can be doing with or without a BSIP.

Rationalising corridors with competition, coordinating frequencies and having joint ticketing arrangements is what is right for the customer, and, ultimately, what is right for the operator. The days of competition are gone, now. Collaborative working and partnership is the new age of deregulation.

The BSIP remains fictitious at this stage and it’ll be interesting to see how the money, should any be received, is divvied out. Is it more important for example to maintain services, if operators cannot continue running them because it is unsustainable in a post-Covid world, or is it better to use that money to provide increased frequencies on ‘super bus’ corridors? It’s interesting to note that frequency is no longer king, according to a recent passenger survey.


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