(28 Mar 2025, 9:38 pm)Storx wrote I don't know at all but if the numbers aren't there, you could easily send the 3/4 to do the Whiteleas loop as they do on the 1/2, they'd technically get a better service to South Shields than now, every 7.5 minutes vs every 15 minutes anyway as you could go either way round. 8 buses an hour along Stanhope Road I'd imagine is more than enough if it interworked with the 18. The 3/17 are basically timetabled on top of each other.
But if doing that you may as well cancel the 3,4 amd just have the 1 and 2 as you also have the Laygate area to consider which the 17 covers.
They did try this about 15 years ago when the 3,4,7,8,17 all got merged into 43,44 and that failed miserably I remember.