(23 Aug 2023, 6:10 pm)deanmachine wrote The thing is, what I've learned from the 56 night bus, it isn't so much a bus for getting drinkers home. It's a bus for work people more than anything, I'd say a good 70% of the passengers are people going home from work (or even to work). Yes a lot of the workers are from bars, but they're mainly from Newcastle or Sunderland, as well as shift workers from Nissan and it's suppliers, going home to Gateshead, Washington, Sunderland and Newcastle. I think a night bus network needs to realise this to work at all, just look at the N21 after all, apparently that can only survive on a weekend commercially.

Yeah that's a fair point to be fair, and not surprised either to be honest. Loads of people who work nights nowadays aswell.

Mind it doesn't help a lot of work places don't have a bus service during the day never mind at night. Places like Team Valley are a nightmare to get to and Amazon at Wynyard and Durham have arguably no bus service at all. Pretty impressive considering the 2 at Darlington and 4/58 at Follingsby are packed to the rafters at shift times. Then they wonder why everyone is in a car, as if you drive to work, why bother paying for bus fares on top to go shopping etc.

I know it's never mentioned much, but I always wonder if some routes would work as loss leaders. ie a bus to a business park makes a loss, but the people on there use other buses at other times which counteracts it who otherwise would be nowhere near the bus in the first place. Similar argument for night buses tbh.