(09 Dec 2022, 8:53 pm)L469 YVK wrote A 13/7 split with careful timings would work for the 308 & 309 (amongst individual combined frequencies) with both then forming a 10 minute service between Blyth and North Tyneside Hospital.

But unless it's late at night with no cars on the road and 6 pints down, a Hadrian Park de-tour is no fun and rightly something that Peter Huntley removed.

If an 'evens' service was going to be created....

- 306 - every 20 mins as now but no longer serves Battle Hill

- 308 - every 20 mins as now

- 309 - every 20 mins as now, via High Farm

- 310 - every 20 mins as now

- 22 - 1x every 20 mins to Cobalt, 1x every 20 mins to Hadrian Park

But it's not a detour around Battle Hill because the Whitley Bay punters won't be using the 309 at all because they're using the 308 instead as they're splitting the fares and Cobalt punters have the X39 at peak times.

The 308 and 309 currently are a chore to use as they stop everywhere and go around the world. I've drawn a little map below on what I'd do and build routes around. GoNorthEast focus on getting punters from the red areas on slower buses and Arriva focus on the green areas on faster services, possibly running non stop from the triangle.

The orange and blue routes being local services, orange (309 extensions) for punters from Cobalt and Battle Hill towards Whitley Bay and Blyth and the light blue on the 306 towards Tynemouth Morrisons.



Right now there's just 2 slow services stopping everywhere. Gosforth is much better designed with the 43/44/45 (309/310) stopping everywhere and the X9/X10/X11 (306/308) doing further afield.

Alternatively if you didn't want too many buses running via High Farm then you could change that section to run like this and serve the North of Wallsend which has a shocking poor bus service. No-one is realistically going to walk under the subway from the houses furthest away. You'd have to work with the LA / Nexus to get some bus stops fitted though.



There's so many ways they could be improved but because of the tit for tat with the 308/309 areas are unserved.