(13 Jul 2026, 6:57 pm)DaveFromUpNorth wrote So are you suggesting being devil advecoate
Could we possibly suggest to Nexus (sigh)
That it is a single decker route except for one service in each direction (school run) therefore making the contract cheaper...
You might be under-appreciating how the saving in running costs (mainly better fuel consumption) is offset by the added cost of using 2 buses (at different times). For example, as well as needing to have the extra bus, there are extra dead miles to operate, so almost certainly an extra driver. And van-based small buses can be surprisingly expensive to buy plus they don't stand up to the rigours of "proper bus services" very well.
But in general, it does seem daft to require a decker all the time, if the need is only for certain times and the operator can find an efficient way to use a smaller bus. On lightly used services, passengers can feel safer in smaller buses (as long the as there is still plenty of capacity). Also helps if the route is more affected by car parking in the evening.
There are some rather horrible van-based small buses around, though, with narrower seats and tight aisles. I have always thought it would be better if the bus spec required normal widths to be used, with "2 and 1" seating, ie sacrificing some seated capacity with say a 24 seater becoming 18, or a 20 seater becoming 15.