(28 Jan 2020, 8:54 pm)RobinHood wrote You are correct, they are dying - but offering free parking isn't going to change that. 

It will simply move a proportion of existing bus passengers, who already go to the town, to the car (of which there probably are a fair few who luckily have a choice). In turn, makes the bus service less viable and the resulting frequency hit or ultimate withdrawal affects many, many more people.

Alienating car owners is the way forward in my view (and I own a car). Climate change will ensure that and hopefully towns and cities will follow York's plans. Buses, trains, trams etc are much more sustainable, they just need room to grow. Only then, will they be attractive, affordable, frequent and reliable (simply because demand exists at a level to sustain it all and congestion is reduced by removing cars from city and town centres).

I'd argue alienating car users isn't going to do that either. 

When I'm at home (I've got a property in T&W), it's 2 or 3 buses to get to Newcastle and the last bus back anywhere near home (this involves a mile walk cos other connections stop running), is at 11pm.

There's no incentive for me to use the bus to go to Newcastle.

If Newcastle introduced a system which made it harder for me to drive in, it wouldn't mean an automatic switch to the bus. Far from it. 
I'd look for alternative shopping/social options and I'd bet I wasn't the only one.

When I'm staying in R&C, there's a change of buses in Middlesbrough when I want to go to Newcastle. That, or I can get the train. 
Middlesbrough doesn't offer me the things that I can get from visiting Newcastle.
It still won't if cars are banned from Newcastle. 

Taking a gamble and hoping/praying/being convinced there would be a modal switch for thousands of people a day, is both naieve and foolish. 
Even if a fraction of those car users from the tens of thousands parking daily in Newcastle switched to using the bus, the effect on footfall and businesses would be massive.

Coming down hard on the car driver is never going to work. The carrot and stick approach is the way forward.
I've mention this loads of times before but I'd rather run a car then pay 68 quid a month on the "appt" for unlimited travel. It seems like a good deal at just over £2.50 per day but its no good if the bus your hoping to travel on doesn't turn up. Make buses more reliable, and ALOT cheaper than my car and this will cancel out the negatives i've got about getting bus to work ( noisy passengers, dirty buses, waiting around for a connection etc etc)

(02 Feb 2020, 10:19 am)Rob44 wrote Coming down hard on the car driver is never going to work.  The carrot and stick approach is the way forward.
I've mention this loads of times before but I'd rather run a car then pay 68 quid a month on the "appt" for unlimited travel.  It seems like a good deal at just over £2.50 per day but its no good if the bus your hoping to travel on doesn't turn up. Make buses more reliable, and ALOT cheaper than my car and this will cancel out the negatives i've got about getting bus to work ( noisy passengers, dirty buses, waiting around for a connection etc etc)

Have to agree with this. I'm hugely critical of Newcastle CC's decision to punish bus operators and let car drivers off scot-free with their plans to combat emissions, but there needs to be an incentivised way forward to *encourage* people to use public transport instead of their private cars.

Where I live and work in Durham, there is a problem with emissions and an even bigger problem with congestion, especially through the Elvet area of the City. But despite that, I'd struggle to try and sell it to people to use the bus instead of their car. At the times people need to travel, buses are often late, don't turn up or when they do, they're full. I get and agree with the arguments that less cars would mean less congestion, and therefore improve the running time of buses.

Something has to give first, and I cannot see it being car owners on a voluntary basis.

(02 Feb 2020, 10:19 am)Rob44 wrote Coming down hard on the car driver is never going to work.  The carrot and stick approach is the way forward.
I've mention this loads of times before but I'd rather run a car then pay 68 quid a month on the "appt" for unlimited travel.  It seems like a good deal at just over £2.50 per day but its no good if the bus your hoping to travel on doesn't turn up. Make buses more reliable, and ALOT cheaper than my car and this will cancel out the negatives i've got about getting bus to work ( noisy passengers, dirty buses, waiting around for a connection etc etc)

And what incentive is there for you to change, if using the car is more convenient (forgetting the actual environment comparison between bus and car)?

No matter how many fewer cars are on the road; until public transport is quicker, reliable and attractive with pricing - without the inconvenience of having to get a connection, then it's not going to appeal to the majority.

At the weekend, I made a trip to a retail park, to visit B&M and Asda. I had a boot full of stuff. Managed to get there and back within the hour and wasn't in any particular rush. 
The cost in getting up there and back, was pennies. 

If I used the bus, there was one an hour.
Regardless of costs, there was no way I would have been able to transport the same stuff on the bus. 
The overall trip from door to door would have taken 2hours plus. Including waiting time.

If I had taken the bus to the nearest town centre, there would have been the issue of cost and also loading the stuff on to the bus. 
If there was a tax on taking the car in, the decision to visit the out of town retail park - would have been even easier. 
It wouldn't have made me use the bus.