(12 Apr 2020, 9:14 am)Andreos1 wrote I wrote a message earlier this month, following on from the discussion regarding 'bail-outs'.

BSOG was mentioned. This was before the 'bail-outs'.
It's as though operators see no shame in their hypocrisy. 
They certainly love a freebie, but when it comes to the discussion on regulating services, all of a sudden they become very determined to stay independent from local/national government interference.

I think the reference about sticking an oversized vehicle on a route which takes single figures - in order to receive financial incentives, is the cherry on a big fat iced incentive filled bun (which is obviously given away as a freebie, funded by the taxpayer of course).

I read your initial post and was taken aback that you didn’t seem to appreciate operators are very much taking the rough with the smooth at the moment - rest assured, buses aren’t making any money currently, they are maintaining a service for key workers at the expense of the operator.

Not sure what your issue with enhanced BSOG payments is - if we weren’t in the current Coronavirus crisis, those buses would all be out in service (making substantially more money than what they are currently), eligible for the same payments. Those same buses are still out in service now, just on different routes, so that part of this claim can still be made.

Why shouldn’t operators allocate these £225,000 assets to services after spending money on buying them in the first place?

The “bail-out” is a different kettle of fish and possibly more political. If you’ve followed Martijn’s daily colleague updates on Facebook (which are publicly available for all to view) then you’ll have heard him mention this, and how it by no means “saves” the operators, just fills a small gap in the vast losses being made currently.


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