It's a hard one - most businesses would argue you grow the business through strong branding and proposition but buses are different. The vast majority of people are taking a bus because there is no other option for them or through the prohibitive cost of a taxi for example.

No amount of paint or slogans can fix the current driver shortages or the image the daily cancellation list creates of a brand. Route numbers are still prevalent form of branding - the 21 existed decades before anyone even thought of popping an Angel over a coal seam and whether its the red angel, the pink one or the green one - it's the 21.

There is value to some branding but stuff like berries and little pinks is nonsense really - it tells you nothing whereas X-Lines at least informs and educates about where the service goes. Then of course mixed allocations (Voyager, Corporate, random other route) don't help either at all.

Has the branding (and the wider bus market) moved on since 2006? Nope.