(27 Jun 2023, 10:38 pm)Storx wrote Does it really matter who runs a bus? Put it on a timetable for all means but other than that it's irrelevant.
Personally I'd rather see the opposite where there's a bus, it takes me somewhere, and I have a ticket that I can use on any bus. Whether it's GoNorthEast, Stagecoach, Arriva, GCT, Stanley Travel and so is just irrelevant imo with no specific operator tickets at all and no unique branding ie. TFL in London.
It just causes confusion and offers no benefits at all. At the same time, arguably it would benefit people out the loop as the network would instantly look much bigger, rather than what's around where there's numerous networks by different operators with little integration especially advertising wise. Sadly Nexus is a waste of space though and don't do stuff like this.
A basic network map ie. https://www.travelsouthyorkshire.com/get...r-2022.pdf would be a good start.
Well I agree the option you outline above seems much more favourable - but at the moments that’s not where we are at. It certainly would be a much more stable model, and allows better cross ticketing options etc. Because even with this new tickets suggesting by the NECA there’s still issues at county/local authority boundaries.
Let’s say I live in Easington Colliery, maybe I need to use a Arriva bus to get to Hartlepool but then a Stagecoach bus to get across town to , what’s the ticket option just the NE explorer that covers everywhere from Berwick to Scarborough and across to Carlisle. Or let’s say I need to go the other way, if I need Arriva to Sunderland and then GNE to get to Doxford Park, what can I get for that journey - an explorer again?