(04 May 2023, 11:09 am)DeltaMan wrote The issue is operators themselves marketing the headline products as 'unlimited travel' incorrectly - leading to arguments with the driver when a ticket is incorrectly sold and then lost customer as irregular users give up. This issue is far worse in areas where operators do the bare minimum to inform (literally a note on an app)
There are countless examples of operators doing that on the sides and backs of buses. I literally saw that on the back of an Xlines decker this morning with zero context.
If all Transport operators were being customer minded (Metro and Ferry included), then the Network One would be the topline product on offer with a cheaper 'own brand/mode' clearly marked.
I mean this is really one of the biggest failings of deregulated public transport. Fare structures are far too complex and most customers are never going to understand them. In an ideal world, fares would be regulated and with a single zonal/price structure across the board, valid on any form of public transport.
Whilst the new tickets from the 1st July are good, it's still half-arsed and has in fact added an extra layer of ticketing on top of what we've got already. If you opt for the County Durham £4 day ticket, it's great and you can use it across all operators. If you're a regular traveller though, you need to purchase a County Durham ticket from either Go North East or Arriva (same name on three products!), and it's not going to be valid outside of the issuing operator.
The ideal solution would be to rip everything up and start again...