[WatcherZero]

Originally Posted by Deathbyteacup

You're missing the point.

Joe Bloggs arrives in Manchester from London on a business meeting. He needs to get from Piccadilly Station tram station to Manchester Victoria, for example.

He's not seen any adverts, he hasn't even been aware of the situation. He is presented by 3 out of service ticket machines.

How is that his fault?

I'm sorry but you can't blaim regular people for coming onto the platform, trying to buy a ticket and not understanding why. Most of the people I spoke too ARE regular travellers as well as out of town commuters and chaos was evident among both demographics.

People don't watch Granada reports, or adverts, or read adverts, or local news, beleive it or not, and to some it isn't applicable. I don't watch or read any of those things and with good reason, I've neither the time or the inclination. Call me uncultured if you like but local news bores me stiff.

You need to let people know ON THE STATION at the time of travel that they don't need to buy a ticket, regardless of any other factor or the reason for the free travel. Simply putting the message "FREE TRAVEL TODAY" instead of "OUT OF SERVICE" would have helped.

Also, as a regular tram traveler I don't recall seeing one noticeable advert for free tram travel. I saw a few tiny stickers, that's it. As a resident of Manchester I would not call the advertising high level, I was only aware as I make it a point to follow railway news, no other reason.

They had people at Piccadilly and at the larger stations telling people it was free and announcing tram destinations (while gathering passenger data on free usage by hand since it couldnt be calculated through ticket sales)