Dear Resident we have received this information from Stephen King, Commercial Director, Go North East.
Subject: Go North East Stakeholder update: An update on Short notice journey cancellations, our summer saving fare offers are extended and the launch of Flexility!
Dear Stakeholder,
It has been great to get and about over the last few weeks or so talking to customers, colleagues and stakeholders about changes to our services from 5th September, our summer fare offers which are now extended into Autumn and the success of our £1 evening fare.
Unfortunately, due to an increasing national driver shortage, reflecting labour shortages now being seen in many sectors across the country as well as most regional bus operators, and a short-term increase in sickness absence as the NHS returns to some sort of normality on waiting lists and specialist treatments, we are having to make some short notice journey cancellations to some of our services.
We are painfully aware of the blurring of these issues at the same time as our recent service changes came into operation, and for which, understandably, there has been some community confusion. We made these service changes to try and deliver a stable service platform from September as people return to school and work, attempting to mitigate the need to make further fundamental changes in the short term again as funding and patronage levels become clearer.
Whilst it is very challenging at the moment this is a short-term problem affecting just over 2% of our 8,000 journeys that we operate each day. We are making all reasonable efforts to cover the journeys, even as the day progresses, and our team are working really hard to keep people moving.
Despite these issues we are seeing a small growth in our passenger numbers. We have continued with a range of positive initiatives such as the extension of our summer fare offers and the launch of Flexility – a new and a dynamic flexible mobility solution which blends the best bits of using both a bus and a car when you need them making sustainable lifestyles even easier. Details of both are shown below.
Short notice journey cancellations – Keeping Up to Date
As noted above due to a national driver shortage, reflecting labour shortages now being seen in many sectors across the country as well as most regional bus operators, and a short-term increase in sickness absence, we are having to make some on the day cancellations to journeys on some routes across the Go North East network. Details of the affected routes and journeys are being shared daily, in advance, on our website, on social media and through our smartphone app which also includes live bus tracking. A list of likely cancellations is being published each evening for the following day ahead to help people better plan their journeys. Paper copies of this list are also being shared with colleagues at depots each morning so they can help advise customers, and are also being posted in key bus stations and interchanges.
https://www.gonortheast.co.uk/short-notice-cancellations
| Short notice journey cancellations – Go North East
Due to the current national driver shortage which is affecting all sectors, and higher-than-usual levels of sickness absence, the following journeys are not expected to operate. |
Summer saving fares offers – now extended!
Last month, following the success of our £1 evening fare offer, we introduced a range of summer saving fares to help people’s money go further and get more people back on board buses, in an effort to boost the region’s local economy. We’re delighted to let you know that we’re extending the offers beyond the summer, so you can continue to save across County Durham, Gateshead and the City of Sunderland.
We’ve also introduced new money saving fares in North Tyneside (which includes journeys into Newcastle). Discounts across the rest of the network, including our £1 evening fare, also remain.
The ticket offers are designed to offer a range of very simple headline fares with easy-to-understand fare zones that match borough and county boundaries.
https://www.gonortheast.co.uk/summer-saving-fares
| Summer saving fares offers – now extended! – Go North East
Last month, following the success of our £1 evening fare offer, we introduced a range of summer saving fares to help people’s money go further and get more people back on board buses, in an effort to boost the region’s local economy.. We’re delighted to let you know that we’re extending the offers beyond the summer, so you can continue to save across County Durham, Gateshead and the City … |
Bus company and car club team up with new shared mobility solution to support car-free lifestyles
Go North East and Co-Wheels have collaborated to launch a dynamic new flexible mobility solution which blends the best bits of using both a bus and a car when you need them. ‘Flexility’ is a new smartcard-based season ticket which enables you to use a bus for your regular journeys and still have access to a car when needed without the need to own one – making sustainable lifestyles even easier. Flexility can be used on Go North East buses but, in a UK first, it also includes car club membership on a single smartcard so it works as both a bus ticket and car club membership key.
| Bus company and car club team up with new shared mobility solution to support car-free lifestyles – Go North East
Bus company and car club team up with new shared mobility solution to support car-free lifestyles. Today Thu 16th Sep 2021 |