(07 Jun 2014, 10:10 am)Dan wrote So do the bus operators fork out the extra cash? In my opinion, there's only so much revenue growth you can expect from buying new vehicles for a bus service.
And if they do fork out the extra cash, are bus operators still expected to withdraw these vehicles in a certain period of time (i.e. 15 years)?
It's a fierce circle, if you ask me.
I completely agree, but I think ultimately they're going to have to.
What's being done at present is doing nothing but shortening the usable life of a Gemini by a third. I'd assume the investment is given by the Go Ahead group on the basis that the bus, over it's lifetime, more than pays for itself. After all no one is going to invest to make a loss.
I don't know a lot about it, but it'd be interesting to see how Stagecoach do it in West Scotland. They've got plenty of express coaches running round, and they seem massively popular.