(16 Apr 2023, 9:57 pm)L469 YVK wrote But isn't that the whole point of a 'partnership'?
Already seen reports about certain valid tickets not being accepted. Surely we can't go back to the days of grumpy Northumbria / Coastline drivers rocking up in N113's or Leyland Olympians refusing each others tickets.
Yeah both operators will have to make sacrafices, but the longer term aim is about making things simpler, more accessible and easier for customers, hence creating passenger growth too.
Who knows what their real motive was but let's say it's done on a reimbursement method of getting a £1 from each other for using each other's tickets. Both might've just signed up as they knew they both had too many buses along there and if they didn't come together then the other one would become more popular because of frequency 9 buses vs 6 or 8 buses vs 6 depending who chopped down. Everything else who cares.
On paper if they played nicely then it should balance out in theory as everyone should just swap about. If it does using reimbursement if the 308 has 50 people on and the 309 has 10 people on Arriva makes more money at the end of the day so there's little interest in the real world to actually do anything.
They're still competitors at the end of the day.
I don't know but it wouldn't surprise me. Nexus / NCC should be the ones who are promoting it really as they set it up.