...pay £5 for a 15 minute trip on a Pacer if there was a £3.50 option of travelling on a modern bus but taking 30 minutes to get there? (Assume you don't have luggage or a bike and aren't making onward travel)
...consider doing a longer trip on a Pacer over a shorter trip on a more modern unit, if the price was lower for the Pacer route? An example where this is an option is Manchester-Chester: a Northern only ticket is £10.80 Off Peak Return but to use the ATW 175 option which is 20 minutes quicker you'd need a £14.50 return ticket. Although, saying that Manchester-Chester isn't as Pacer dominated as other routes so there may be a better example.
...consider doing a longer trip on a Pacer over a shorter trip on a more modern unit, if the price was lower for the Pacer route? An example where this is an option is Manchester-Chester: a Northern only ticket is £10.80 Off Peak Return but to use the ATW 175 option which is 20 minutes quicker you'd need a £14.50 return ticket. Although, saying that Manchester-Chester isn't as Pacer dominated as other routes so there may be a better example.