Monday, September 25, 2006

Golden Buses

Livingstone is very proud of his buses and it is true that the service has improved, but at a cost....

Roger Evans: What is the current level of public subsidy provided to London Buses?

Ken Livingstone: In 2004/05 - the most recent year for which fully validated data is available - the bus network required a subsidy of £550 million.

Easily the most heavily subsidised bus network in the country.

2 comments:

Serf said...

That's enormous.

After raising the cost of driving, we still need to spend half a billion to keep the buses running?

Roger Evans said...

Martin,

Thank you for your comment. It's good to get some conflicting views.

Of course the Conservative policy you criticise was pursued across the country which begs the question, why is the service so much more expensive in London?

Recently Stagecoach sold two of its franchises in London to an investment bank and pocketed a profit of £120 million. Someone has been ripped off - the bank's shareholders, or bus passengers. I wonder which it could be....