(23 Jan 2022, 3:37 pm)Adrian wrote There was no one at Eldon Square when I was there mid-day yesterday. No GNE supervisor or Nexus supervisor. Nor was there anyone at the Galleries when I was there in the morning or afternoon. I haven't seen any posters indicating Sunday timetables either, and I was in the Galleries bus station for about 20 minutes in one spell. 

There wasn't anyone at a very busy Houghton-le-Spring, which given every that service that passed through yesterday (apart from the 71) would have been on a Sunday timetable, I'd have hoped would have been recognised as a key place and important to have someone on hand. 

We can talk about cost vs benefit, and whilst I'd agree it regularly comes down to this in business, we shouldn't dismiss obligations that a business has. We know that younger people prefer to use the Internet, Social Media or Apps to communicate, but face-to-face and telephone contact is especially important to the over-70s and to people with impairments. Age UK reported recently that there's still 70% of the over-70s that don't have or use a smartphone. Does a business not have an obligation to remain accessible to these people, especially when operating in an emergency or business continuity situation? 

I'd stand by the comment that customers are being left hung out to dry at present, but that's not to say the situation couldn't be vastly improved. There's one hell of a challenge ahead for operators to rebuild confidence in public transport.

Aside from that, a few observations from when I was out yesterday. Generally speaking, I won't use buses on a Sunday, unless I'm doing something specifically. The timings don't work for me, I'm not a fan of standing round waiting for ages and I begrudge paying the same fee for 1/3 of the service.

• Sunday timetables just aren't suitable for a normal day's service. There's too many peaks, whether it be commuters (if a Sunday timetable even gets you into work on time!), people heading out for football matches, people heading out on the drink or whatever else. 
  
• Every bus I used yesterday was busy, with most seats visible to my eye having been in use. 
  
• I'm still noticing that there is wide-spread hesitation from customers about sitting directly next to a stranger and especially rear-facing to someone. Less so with OAPs, most of whom would consider murder to get in that front row seat at the best of times.
  
• I was surprised at the amount of passengers on an X10 to Newcastle, with the queue at Newgate Street for the return trip down to the zebra crossing, then taking a good 10 minutes to board everyone. Not bad for a service on the ropes.
  
• The X1 is too busy for a half-hourly service on a Saturday and there isn't sufficient room at the Galleries to manage the queue.