(14 Jun 2022, 10:55 am)stagecoachbusdepot wrote I'm not familiar with Spirit Buses so can't comment.There's some good points in here, but the key to it all is the commercial team.
It makes no difference who the operator is, it is the model that is rotten. It does appear however to be a particular tactic of GNE at present however to milk the system dry given the sheer number of cancellations etc as compared to the relatively limited scale of other operator's cuts, backed up with a consultation that has drawn pretty strong criticism across the board - intended to pressure the taxpayer funding to secure the routes.
And this is the root of the problem. Operator not making enough profit, cancel services, win back said services with a whack of taxpayer cash, supposedly use this cash to "grow" the services - supposedly we then see services become commercially viable again though when has this ever happened, regardless of operator. As I said in my previous post, there's no reason (other than social and moral responsibility) for an operator to do anything other than offer up lower revenue routes, knowing they will likely win them back with a helping of extra cash to add to the coffers. The system is rotten, and the private operators are capitalising on it (some more than others).
Why aren't they working on new opportunities? Why aren't they identifying new routes? Why aren't they looking at the changing travel patterns we keep hearing about and changing the routes, rather than culling them?
(14 Jun 2022, 8:10 am)Adrian wrote There's also the argument, that operators such as Gateshead Central, run their bus division 100% on contracts and subsidies.I'd not blame them if they tried to be honest. Might as well join the race to the bottom whilst holding out their begging bowl like GNE are!
There's no redistribution of their profit into trying to run any commercial services, yet theres nothing stopping them.
As much as I dislike the current model of the public sector being left to pick up the pieces, I don't think banning operators from bidding is the answer, nor will it achieve value for money for the local authority and the customer base.
I do however think that there needs to be recognition that the current model is unsustainable. Without going down the route of franchising, the funding available is going to be finite. Yet the danger of Arriva and Stagecoach seeing Nexus pick up the pieces big time here, is likely to make them want a slice of that pie themselves. This could very quickly become a vicious circle.
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Don't drop it on the way though! There's gonna be another operator sniffing about looking for that loose change.