(03 Apr 2020, 12:53 am)Big O wrote If this is an earnest question I'll answer it but if not I won't get into it with you. The fares up here are ridiculously priced up here. Why can't they dip into their deep pockets to pay their way through this situation?
Usually I'd agree with fares being too high in the NE, but in this instance they aren't getting the fares at all.
Ultimately buses are still being driven around by drivers on £10+/hour, using fuel and requiring maintenance. The drivers I know have been saying they're carrying around fresh air majority of the time - that simply cannot translate into earning money.
Generally the deeper the pocket, the larger the mouth they have to feed it with. I'd imagine most of the big groups (bar perhaps First, who I imagine are in an even worse position) have a roughly similar proportional amount of money in reserve - but if this goes on for months then that won't be enough.