(16 Dec 2012, 11:12 am)Michael wrote So my route would be...
Park lane - Fawcett Street - St Mary's way - Queen Alexandra Bridge,Sunderland Enterprise Park east end, Hylton Riverside Retail Park,Sunderland Ent Pk, Defender Ct, Castletown,Sunrise Enterprise Park, Waterview Park,Teal Farm estate,Washington District 15 Exit,Peel Retail Park, Sulgrave,Washington Concord Bus Station,Coach Road Estate - Washington Galleries
That sounds brilliant to me. I don't think I've ever seen anyone board the bus at Vine Place, so re-routing it to Fawcett Street - where buses are used a lot more - would heavily increase the chances of passenger numbers increasing. The only reason I can think for it ever to have been routed the way it is now is because Go North East service 99 follows that same route and it goes via Vine Place. I can also confirm that the 99 rarely gets any passengers boarding there either. Extending the service to Washington Galleries seems perfectly logical too. With services as early as 07:45am from Washington Galleries to Sunderland (besides the 2A/2C), it'd surely have a passenger increase.
(16 Dec 2012, 11:49 am)Brandon wrote That sounds like a good idea to me! The extension to Washington Galleries would probably require an additional bus, not sure if Nexus could afford this at the moment, but if there was any way to serve Washington Galleries while keeping the 2 buses then that would be brilliant and should improve passenger numbers!
Nexus have an endless supply of money - didn't you know? Set-up costs of the Quality Contracts Scheme they're proposing would be around £2.5 million alone. Don't get me started on them blasting £385 million on the "Metro Modernisation" work. Just think of how public transport in Tyne & Wear could have been improved with that kind of money - but no, we get some fancy new technology and some improved lifts on stations, woopity-doo.
(16 Dec 2012, 11:49 am)Brandon wrote If the QCS goes ahead, I think all services are likely to be subject to major changes. But Greg Stone, whose a member of the ITA, said recently in the skyscrapercity forums that "If anything, the network may even be smaller than it is at present; the proposals Nexus has consulted on constitute significant reductions in service levels in areas including South Shields and parts of Sunderland." This seems rather worrying to me!
I dare not even express my views on the Quality Contract Schemes - definitely not appropriate for a public forum. Though I wish operators could have come up with some sort of Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) before now instead of practically being forced to do so by a Quality Contract Scheme threat, I'm glad they've finally brought a VPA up as opposed to a QCS. I can foresee exactly what will happen if the QCS goes ahead, and that will be 'Cut the routes that follow the Metro line, they can use the Metro instead!' - au revoir to the X3, 27 etc and hello to packed Metros that break down more frequently and are even more unreliable than they are at present. Anyway, to see the VPA I spoke of above, see below:
http://www.northeastbus.org/Better_by_Far_summary.pdf
(16 Dec 2012, 3:44 pm)Brandon wrote What I'd love to see for the 135/136 is for it changed into the 99A from Sunderland right round to Seaburn, but instead of turning into Morrisons, have it terminate at South Bents Estate. The PVR would remain the same at 2, but it would provide an evening/Sunday link on the Stagecoach 18/19 route between South Bents, Seaburn, Fulwell, Thompson Road, Southwick, Pallion and Royal Hospital. Nexus have said that they cannot afford an evening/Sunday service on the 18/19, but this would cover a part of the route at no extra cost. Go North East and Stagecoach already run frequent 20 minute services to North Sunderland from the City Centre on Sundays on 3/4/13/16/56, no need for the hourly 135/136 too.
Again, another great idea. It's a shame that Nexus don't listen to folk who have ideas that would benefit the full county. It wouldn't ever 'change' into the 99A, it would have to be the same service and be extended to South Bents Estate. A substantial part of that route would be covered at no extra cost as you say; those wishing to go to Hendon , Hill View or Grangetown could use the 10/11 from the City Centre, those wishing to go to Grindon could use the 16 from the City Centre, those wishing to go to Plains Farm could use the 3 from the City Centre... It seems like common logic to do something like this, don't you think?
On the subject of the 135/136, albeit off-topic to this thread, a "Sunderland Connect" Solo SR Hybrid was working one of them today. Came into Park Lane with one passenger - that was around 12 if I remember rightly.
(16 Dec 2012, 4:39 pm)Michael wrote Would like to see all companies run their own buses, its stupid how stagecoach ended up running the 39 on a night and other companies running other services
These are GNE services ran by other companies:17/17A,19,26A,37,38,M2A/M3A
I'd like this too. It'd avoid a lot of confusion regarding which operator's tickets you can and can not use. That doesn't directly affect me as I can use any bus with a Nexus CAT ticket - but it'd be beneficial to those who are over 16 that don't have that kind of ticket!
(16 Dec 2012, 4:39 pm)Michael wrote Stagecoach 5/5A (Sunderland) are secured services, im sure i read they won a 5 year contract with them, i dont know when this ends but when it does, i bet GNE or Arriva will get it
I didn't know they were secured services! If it's a five-year contract, I could imagine that it'd finish by September 2013. When it ends, I could imagine Stagecoach will keep it. It's a heavily demanded service by elderly folk of the East End, and it'd be cost-effective which perhaps in the past, it might not have been. It isn't Go North East's or Arriva's type of service in my opinion, they prefer long-haul type of stuff.
(16 Dec 2012, 4:39 pm)Michael wrote Imagine if NEXUS start running all our buses... it would be a disaster
+1. Horrible thought.
Jeez, that was a long post.