Recliner wrote:

I've been following this thread, but no-one has explained how this
scheme actually worked. For example, I very much doubt that Chavez
shipped special cargos of cheap oil directly to London. Presumably the
buses still get fuelled in their depots using diesel distributed in the
usual way, from the usual sources (probably not Venezuela). So, did
Chavez remit the subsidy as cash, directly to Ken? And did any actually
arrive, anyway?

It's also unclear what concrete help TfL has actually provided to deal
with Caracas's traffic problem.

Scheme started 30/9/2007. Scheme announced abandoned 25/5/2008. That's
not exactly a length of time you could expect much to happen in, is it?
On the other hand, any deal you signed where you got cheap fuel in
return for not much at all you'd consider good from your point of view?

Anyway, a European subsidiary of the Venezuelan oil company hands over
two tranches of cash (US dollars) annually based on TfL's calculations
of the expected diesel use on London Buses during the year (which is
presumably September to September, since that's when it started).
There's an adjustment at the end of the year if the diesel price
changes, which it has, to put it mildly. Since it's calculated net of
tax it's not unreasonable to assume that the Venezuelans owe us some money.

The money is only supposed to be spent on providing discounted bus and
tram travel for people on income support using PAYG and bus passes,
although the second yearly payment includes extra cash to fund the
administration of the scheme, both the discount and the TfL advice.
It's a bit unclear whether 'provision' includes the actual buses or just
the loss in fare earnings.

The money should already be here, since the first lot arrives shortly
after the scheme starts and the next six months later, which was
probably last month. There is a 50 day window (20 days for TfL to
request it, 30 days to pay up) so it's not impossible that the second
tranche arrived when Boris was Mayor. It goes to TfL, not the Mayor,
since they administer the discount scheme.

What isn't explained anywhere is what happens if the money coming in
more than covers the cost of the scheme. Conversely, if there is a
surplus at the end, what will Boris do with it? It is always possible
that the cost of the scheme exceeds the Venezuelan contribution, though,
but without actual figures it's hard to say. Does anyone know the
annual bus mileage and the average bus fuel consumption?

Tom