(23 Jan 2022, 7:56 am)Dan wrote I was at Park Lane yesterday morning around 11am and there was a Go North East bus station supervisor present as well as a Nexus bus station supervisor - not sure if both were on their breaks at the time 54APhotography was at Park Lane or dealing with something else in the bus station, but both were definitely present. Additional supervisors employed by Go North East have been in place at all major bus stations now for a couple of months, in order to provide additional support and guidance, to both customers and the driving team.

(23 Jan 2022, 9:50 am)54APhotography wrote There was no carnage being alluded to Dan, I stated exactly what I saw taking two autistic relatives to the Galleries on a 2. The elderly people were waiting at the 2 stop, the furthest away from the entrance, they said nobody was around to ask, nobody told them about the service reduction and they didn't use phones ,like the youngsters. They were full of hell. And you should know the way old folk chatter, all of them were angry and were told why, told what time their bus would be . I didn't have to do that , but found it preferable to a journey with half a bus full of people slagging off the bus company.
Otherwise my only comment was the one to which you agreed - that Streetlites should have been allocated to the 39.

When going to work yesterday I ended up being late due to the 39A being full at Vine Place, and 3 passengers including myself were told we couldn't get on. Bearing in mind the driver stopped at Borough Rd to let more passengers on. There was like 10 or so mins to wait for the 2 (luckily I was going to Ryhope Street so I could get the 2/2A and walk down towards Ryhope Village), so I decided to walk to Borough Rd (because of the cold) and when at the lights to cross over Fawcett st, the 39A pulled away from the stop. I literally was soo annoyed as there was definitely standing room for more than 3 people and for longer than 1 stop. Solos should not be on the 39/39A anyways especially not in these sunday times pa larva (i know it is better than no service but why should it come down to that?)

Whether or not streetlites were supposed to be allocated they weren't.

(23 Jan 2022, 3:37 pm)Adrian wrote 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.
  

Was it just me but the App wasn't even working properly so everyone is screwed really. My bus (on weekday & Saturday times) said it was due in 43 mins so I left to get the metro and ended up walking as it was too cold to wait in a metro station. When approaching my stop I looked at the App and the 39A wasn't tracking but buses regularly don't track but still turn up. So I waited for the next 39A which was full mentioned above...

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I am sick of hearing negativity about the bus industry as i'm sure you all are but I literally cannot remember a time where people used to slag Stagecoach and Arriva off to this extent, enthusiasts and public alike (besides the metro, that is a different kettle of fish haha). Believe me the general public have noticed as I was on a 35A the other day and heard a group of people saying how the only got this bus because it turned up, they would normally get either stagecoach or a taxi. Now that is saying something. Just shows that fancy mod cons like WiFi, charging, paint jobs don't make a route more profitable they just are additions for the people that use the service.