Support Measure for Bus, Railway, Tourist and Road Transport Tourist Enterprises
About this good practice
The Greek Government proceeded with measures of financial support in the form of a subsidy, in order to support the Greek economy. In particular, it was decided to fund bus, railway, tourist and road transport tourist enterprises that own public tourist buses which have been affected by the restrictions imposed by the government.
In accordance with the joint ministerial decision by the Hellenic Ministries of Finance, Infrastructure and Transport and Tourism "Rules for keeping distance in private companies, public services and other public gathering places throughout the Territory, to limit the spread of coronavirus COVID-19", a ban of using 1 seat out of 2 (when seats were close to one another) was imposed on public transport due to COVID-19.
For the payment of the compensations, the beneficiaries submitted to the competent Ministry a written request within 20-25 days from the publication of the Decision. For the companies of urban and intercity buses as well as for the railway this was the Ministry of Infrastructure & Support while for the Tourist Office enterprises, the compensations were paid by the budget of the Ministry of Tourism.
The compensation of the beneficiaries was calculated by taking into account the fullness of the passengers' seats of the itineraries of the periods 2017, 2018, and 2019 for the months July to August as well as the total number of the offered seats, the cost of the ticket and the percentage of reduction of the potential fullness set at 35%.
Resources needed
The amount of compensation was a total of 48,781,991.00 €.
Evidence of success
875.529 € in total was given to bus companies based in the South Aegean Region, divided between the regional units of the Dodecanese and the Cyclades. This amount was distributed among 34 urban bus companies and 62 sub-urban ones.
Potential for learning or transfer
The simplicity of the eligibility criteria used for the granting of this funding, makes it highly and easily transferable to other regions and countries. The fact that it applies to both bus companies and railway is also an advantage, given that every area/region has at least one of the two.
The best proof of this practice’s transferability is that similar measures have already been implemented at national, regional and local level by most EU countries hit by COVID 19.