(01 Aug 2022, 10:39 am)Andreos1 wrote And yet the operators are somehow surprised when traffic causes issues with the services which are running... Or insist on banging the drum for more bus priority measures.

I think it was Storx who said that operators have failed if traffic causes issues and delays and they can't get people to make the modal switch OR have been people make the modal switch back from public transport.
Storx is 100% correct.
Quite why the MD of an operator is publically (but probably unconsciously) admitting his methods to grow the business has failed, is anyones guess. 

If our Daniel is sitting ready to play Andreos1 Bingo, he might get a line here... 
Titivations, paint jobs, tables and WiFi clearly haven't made the impact operators thought they would. I think that's more clear now than it ever has been. 
Blaming Covid doesn't wash. Neither does pointing at the Governments lack of funding/communications during Covid/insert other accusation as suits. 
Sticking with a stagnant network that is essentially the same as the one on the wall in Beamish Museum isn't working.

Let's look at something that's radical and different. Let's be proactive. Let's work with employers, car users and existing passengers to discuss these changing travel patterns operators keep mentioning - but are seemingly doing very little about other than reducing frequencies and culling routes. 
* Where are the morning peaks?
* What flow do we have and what impact does other road traffic at pinch points heading in other directions have on services?
* Are there services that are going to places in other directions to our buses and if we don't have services to/from those places - what can we do to ensure we take those cars off the road?
* Ditto PM peaks (and the utter bizarre frequencies during the day when passenger numbers are logically at their lowest).
* What can be done to ensure 52,000 people coming out of SJP or 40,000 coming out of the SOL are accommodated via public transport - regardless of the time of the final whistle? just to make sure I stick to Daveys original idea for the thread
* Are there different travel patterns on different days of the week that need to be included in commercial teams thinking? 
* How can operators work together to ensure passengers can complete a journey, regardless of time of day, contract etc
* What will elastic and inelastic passengers be prepared to accept so that perceptions of fares, journey times and comfort are met or exceeded? 

The internal factors should be worked on as well, so that second tranche of leavers MG mentioned are the last.
Utilising and managing the resource (vehicle, driver and effective timetabling) well is undoubtedly key.

If they don't look at any of these things in detail (and I'm sure there's many more to look at), nothing is going to get better. 
It's as simple as that. These operators need to take some ownership and responsibility.

I know Sunderland don't have theirs anymore, but regarding the bit in bold, I wonder why this is so difficult for Newcastle? I'm assuming a large proportion of fans, who also use public transport, are Magpie Mover ticket holders. If that is the case, then Network One have post codes along with the number of tickets in circulation? Why not actually do something with this data, and look to plan match day services around it?

Of course, the added difficulty at the minute, is that there's not a day that goes by without masses of service cancellations. If you've only got X number of drivers to go around, then you're impacting service work elsewhere to put on these extra buses. I can't imagine there being a huge influx of volunteers for overtime or rest day working, when there's a football match on. 

But if/when the driver situation is sorted out, they really should be looking at this data more closely.