«Breaking News» BBC spending 'hundreds of thousands' on shuttle bus for journey that takes 14 minutes on Underground

The BBC is splashing out hundreds of thousands of pounds a year on a staff shuttle bus for a journey that takes just 14 minutes to reach on the London Underground.

The shuttle bus, which is licence fee-funded, travels between two of the corporation's buildings every half hour, according to information provided to The Times under the Freedom of Information Act.

The company ships an average of nine BBC passengers between its New Broadcasting House in central London and the corporation's west London base at White City Place - around five miles apart.

The shuttle bus runs between New Broadcasting House in central London and the BBC's west London base at White City Place. A journey which is only around five miles apart and takes only 14 minutes by tube on the Central Line service

The number of staff using the service has dropped from 516 a working day in 2014-15 to 385 a day in 2017-18.

However, the BBC is looking to extend the service for a further seven years, even though it has scaled back its operations in White City.

The deal is expected to be worth up to £4.5 million, the Times has reported.

The journey takes around 25 minutes when the roads are quiet, but only 14 minutes by tube on the Central Line service.

But the BBC has defended the service, insisting that it helped to lower staff expenses claims and allowed them to work during the journey.

Many of its journalists consider it to be unnecessary, with one source claiming that the bus is usually almost empty.

'It gets my goat and costs the licence-fee payers loads', another told the newspaper.

The company ships an average of nine BBC passengers between its New Broadcasting House in central London (pictured) and the corporation's west London base at White City Place - around five miles apart

The BBC declined to disclose the annual cost of running the shuttle, citing the commercial confidentiality of its transport supplier.

'It would not be in the public interest to disclose sensitive information about a particular company if that information would be likely to be used by competitors to gain a competitive advantage,' it said.

However, documents published by the BBC this year revealed that it plans to spend between £3 million and £4.5 million on a seven-year shuttle bus contract.

The contract has not be signed, however, so the overall cost could be lower than the estimate.

A BBC spokeswoman told the Times: 'Staff need to travel between the BBC's two main London hubs and providing a regular shuttle bus reduces the expenses claims which would otherwise be incurred. 

'It also provides efficiency in terms of travelling time door to door, and enables staff to continue working on their journey.'

The BBC has defended the service (which transports employees to BBC White City pictured), insisting that it helped to lower staff expenses claims and allowed them to work during the journey

Link hienalouca.com

https://hienalouca.com/2018/12/14/bbc-spending-hundreds-of-thousands-on-shuttle-bus-for-journey-that-takes-14-minutes-on-underground/
Main photo article The BBC is splashing out hundreds of thousands of pounds a year on a staff shuttle bus for a journey that takes just 14 minutes to reach on the London Underground.
The shuttle bus, which is licence fee-funded, travels between two of the corporation’s buildings every half hour, according to...

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Dianne Reeves Online news HienaLouca





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