(16 Mar 2014, 6:59 pm)tyresmoke wrote There is a PowerPoint presentation on the web somewhere produced by North East (& Yorkshire) Managing Director Nick Knox which explains that the conversion of a route to Sapphire standard is expected to see 6% growth in year one, with an extra 3% in year two. I am told that the route here in the North East is achieving this, even with it being situated in more of a "challenging area" compared to the other 3 test routes, economically speaking.
Where is the 6% growth coming from? If I am right the Sapphire brand operates between Darlington and Durham with no competition from other bus companies, so the revenue cannot be coming from nicking passengers from someone else. If I am a car user, free wifi and power sockets would not get me out of my car on these 2 points alone.
Have Arriva done any marketing, reduced the fares or is there any bus priority on this route to make it more attractive, or are people choosing this service over other Arriva services in the area and have these seen a decline, and if not I am puzzled as to how 6% growth can be achieved.