(09 Jun 2014, 4:18 pm)ifm001 wrote You hit the nail on the head. The word imagine. As we don't have services to the metrocentre there is no point in using that as an example. Whereas take. Services 3. 4 and 5. Stagecoach and go north east. Both operate all day every day between south shields and the area I live. You can choose eithr stagecoach pass or go north east pass. But if you want to use both you have to buy differnet.
If the services which are operated by alternative operators. On evenmings and sundays changed there bnumbers so they weren't the same service. Ie the 39 became the 139 would you still complain

Yes - I am having to say 'imagine', because you couldn't not relate otherwise.

Services 3, 4 and 5 are all (mostly) commercial and remain operated by their respective companies regardless of the time of day.
On the other hand, service 39 isn't. It is commercial and operated by Go North East during the day, but on an evening/night, it's secured and tendered to Stagecoach North East.

There are some parts of the 39's route which is only served by that service, and as such, most fare paying passengers would opt for a Sunderland WeeklySaver to save money. However, if they happen to be travelling after a certain time on an evening, they can't use their Sunderland WeeklySavers due to the fact Stagecoach North East operate the same service, but on a tendered basis.

This ruins their travelling arrangements and possibly inflicts a greater cost on the passenger just so they can get home on an evening. Let's not forget that, as a result of this, Go North East see fewer Sunderland WeeklySaver sales and passengers opt for the more expensive Network One ticket - because they've got no choice.

As I said before, it is ultimately Go North East's fault because they decided the service was not commercially viable to operate on evenings (which I can vouch for - although there used to be full buses during the day - after 8, it completely dies). However, SNE/Nexus hasn't thought of the passenger in the sense that they cannot use their GNE tickets on board service 39.

As much as some people may beg to differ, there's more than one party to blame in this instance...