northwichcat
Veteran Member
Whilst it may be difficult to "contract", they can ask operators how much it would cost to provide the desired enhancements, and providing it doesn't fall foul of other restrictions can be funded "de minimis".
In the case of onelink in Crewe it would be lower post-COVID due to working from home. However, the cutbacks started before that and, for people who have a choice of working from home or on site, it's probably going to make working from home even more attractive. I normally work from home but I wouldn't be against having more face to face contact with team members. However, if it's too difficult to get to a physical location due to poor transport links, strikes etc. then I'm not exactly going to push for more face to face time.
I think you have to ask yourselves how many people were using the bus when the frequency was every 15 minutes, and would they still be there if that frequency still ran today. Even if they were, would it cover the costs that have increased in the interim (fuel, vehicle, wages, etc.). If the answer is no, I think you have your answer why the frequency has not been retained. It's not as though similar things aren't happening in areas Chaserider/D&G/Centrebus have never touched...
As I mentioned in an earlier post, the cutting back started around the time GHA Coaches collapsed and partly related to them and High Peak being over-ambitious in commercial attempts of services that were previously contracted as a way of marking their terriority.