There was very little overlap between the fleet numbers of the constituent fleets when Southern Vectis/Solent Blue Line was merged in (SVOC/SBL used 3-figure numbers whilst W&D largely used 4-figure numbers) so whilst there was some minor changes soon after the merger to remove duplicate numbers things largely remained unchanged (principally the deckers bought after 1995 when SBL & SVOC stopped numbering in a single series), and since most of the vehicles that moved between fleets initially were not present in the receiving fleet they retained their old numbers (Olympians & Darts to W&D, Solos to SBL/SVOC). However this meant that largely identical vehicles had completely different fleet numbers depending on who originally bought them which causes an issue from a fleet control viewpoint. With the transfer of certain vehicles in this situation (the Citaros from Poole to Bluestar in particular) this problem becomes more acute so a standardised numbering system across Go South Coast is being brought in. It appears to have been in the planning stage for some time with aspects happening gradually but they finally appear to have bitten the bullet and do it fully as it now becomes more of an issue more widely.
