(15 Mar 2015, 10:35 am)Tommy_1581 wrote I don't see how Arriva could have just created a brand new corporate livery and have all the NSAs, wifi and power sockets in there. Of course with leather seats but black.I think you do need a hierarchy of services, now especially, because you can't justify WiFi, power sockets, NSA's etc. on every service. WiFi I suppose is a given pretty much, but some council funded routes definitely don't deserve it.
MAX and Sapphire just don't make sense. Why cherry pick routes to have so called "posh" and "sparkle" included in them. Sapphire, if it really wants to sparkle, should have staff who care if the wifi doesn't work and take the bus off when a change appears and replace it with a Sapphire spare. Seats which offer more comfort (of course 2x2 seating), no matter how much it costs.
The cost of having everything on every bus and to refurbish every vehicle to the same standard, would be extortionate.
If you look at MAX and Sapphire, they are extremely similar, the only real difference is the lack of power and next stop announcements (on some), which you could probably live without. The difference then to the normal specification again isn't huge, no headrests and that's about it isn't it? So for all there is a much needed ranking the overall product between Sapphire and MAX, then between MAX and standard isn't huge.