(12 Apr 2020, 9:23 am)Dan wrote 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.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
No, I've not been watching any of the daily colleague updates. I'm not a colleague.
I am guessing these £225,000 assets will continue to operate services like this once the Covid19 issue has finished. Supplement the low single figure passengers with BSOG and utilise the older vehicles elsewhere, where the service doesn't need financial support of any type to survive. Or not?
Regulated or de-regulated? Which one is it?
Or is it de-regulated, with a pinch of government support - just when it suits?
Whilst the government bail out, BSOG and the ilk may fill a small gap in the finances. The point about hypocrisy still stands.