(23 Nov 2014, 11:15 pm)Drifter60 wrote Um on paper Dan yes. Maybe I'm too synical but it seems to be the consensus on this forum that it isn't the best of efforts this time from GNE. Michael, Andreos, Aureolin and myself have all said we couldn't attend tomorrow and/or believe more days in Park Lane were best.
I'm still not confident 8-4 is good for workers eithers, a 8:30-5:30 or similar working day isn't too out of the ordinary. I do usually pass through Park Lane Tues, Thu, Fri at approx. 8:30 but I certianly haven't time to digest a load of changes I'm usually rushing to catch the metro or a bus. I'm sure a lot of people are the same.
I do understand why changes happen, it doesn't change the fact the frequent changes don't help customer confidence. I've got a friend who lives in town end farm I think it is, and told me she just gets the 56, and even told me the '36' goes past her I pointed out the 36 got axed a few months back.
This then suggests that passengers are becoming tired of change and just opt for the 56 which has been the same for quite some time.
Yes, I really do think you are being too cynical here... I have agreed myself that I personally would liked to have seen the consultation held across more days, but from a business perspective, it just doesn't add up (for the aforementioned reasons).
For those employed in the City Centre, the consultation being held at 08:00am would be fine. Again, Go North East can't appeal to every single person who uses their services, but they can aim to reach out to a lot of them. Starting at 08:00am allows some commuters who travel through Park Lane at that time to give their opinions. If the consultation had started an hour later, these commuters would have been missed out, and I think the audience of the consultation wouldn't be as wide as a consequence.
Nevertheless, a consultation being held is better than nothing at all (as we have witnessed on Teesside with Stagecoach). Aureolin and I were discussing this when we were out and about taking photos the other day, and we both agreed that a consultation over the web platform would be the best method of consulting passengers regarding proposed service changes if it was done effectively. If customers' post codes were pulled out of the company's Key Card database and these people were all sent an e-mail with a link to the consultation which could only be used once, you could guarantee that you're going to get feedback which is accurate and comes from the customers who would actually be affected.
It cannot be denied that regular service changes do not help with customer confidence and can potentially cause confusion too, but as I have said previously, a lot of (not all) service changes actually provide customers with a better network than before due to new links being created, later buses being added, etc.