(24 Dec 2023, 9:43 am)Andreos1 wrote Some interesting points and I'm not sure I agree with all of them.
They have the POP Card.
However quite why there was no joined up or holistic approach when every Tom, Dick and Harry applied for the smart card funding, is anyones guess.
As for the lack of operator investment because 'threats they're going to be taken over'.
Not sure what you mean by this? Operators make a loss, partly because they've not adapted networks to suit the changing passenger habits they keep telling us about.
The network is pretty much as is back in 86 when they gained control of them and there weren't business parks or out of town shopping, but there was plenty of town/city centre shopping/working and ship yards/pits.
40 years of looking after shareholders, being stuck in a rut, generational incompetence, habitual begging bowl collections, making cuts and clearly lacking the foresight to adapt has led to the rumours of LA/PTE control not just in the NE, but across the country.
If operators are worried about that, then that's on them. Not the LA or PTE.
Pop is a complete mess imo, it might aswell be called The Metro Card, I don't get why it's been so mishandled since the start. Network One immediately should have been launched onto it and that scrapped but we still have that running however many years later and Network One is like trying to find a needle in a haystack, information on it. Must be the most confusing multi modal system in the whole country.
Of course, I don't blame the PTE/LA for the losses that would be riduculous but imo someone needs to condense all bus information into one site or place and we just don't have it still. You have to remember the areas where there's multiple operators which are stuggling the most and it's no doubt it's because people are simply confused.
The fact the Nexus has no form of journey planner in 2023, is just disgustingly poor imo. The ticket information page is also like trying to read through an manual aswell, it's a pathetic site. Compare that to say the West Midlands - https://www.tfwm.org.uk/. You can do literally everything you need from the home page, plan a journey - with a less walking option, find tickets, and then important information about travel. Not footsteps with Mo Farah which is unneeded information.
Someone needs to display this information, and it simply can't be the operators as it's illegal for them to do it. Someone needs to take responsibility on it, and it falls simply down to the PTE/LA as it's literally they're job.
Bad ticketing, bad information and bad routes, hot mess combination for problems. The last one falls on the operator, the first 2 falls on everyone, arguably more PTE/LA than anyone. Even the new TNE tickets are like trying to find gold at the end of the rainbow on the Nexus website.