Evita Warmenhoven from Breda has completely lost confidence in transport company Connexxion. Her 5-year-old son Ian goes to school in Rotterdam by taxi every day, because he is deaf and has a learning disability. Last week the taxi was always late. But on Tuesday, after school, no van showed up to pick up Ian. “He stood there in the schoolyard for hours,” says Evita furiously.
She is one of the many parents who have been agitated for days about the poor transportation of the children. Connexxion has problems with the planning, as a result of which children are taken to or picked up too late or not at all.
Last year, according to Evita, there was no problem. Then her son was picked up by another taxi company and that went almost flawlessly. Ian always had the same driver and had developed a relationship with him. But from this school year, the municipality of Breda has been working with Connexxion and that company is making a mess of it, according to Evita.
“It was picked up much too late the first week and each time by a different driver,” says Evita. School starts at a quarter to nine, but sometimes Ian wasn’t there until ten. “He has already missed speech therapy and physiotherapy because of this,” she says.
“I’ve decided to keep him at home to avoid even more stress.”
On Tuesday, the taxi didn’t even show up at all, while Ian was waiting in the school yard. “After 45 minutes I was called by the teacher that the taxi was not there and was no longer coming. I was so angry, why are you leaving my child there?” says Evita. She therefore drove to Rotterdam after work to pick him up. In the meantime, the teachers stayed with Ian. “In the end, we were only home at half past six .”
When things went wrong again on Wednesday, Evita had enough. Then her son didn’t come home until hours after school was out. “I didn’t know where my child was. The Connexxion website where I could see where he is did not work. I tried to call them, but I couldn’t get through.”
The lack of clarity surrounding taxi transport puts a heavy burden on Ian. The boy needs a lot of structure. He gets it at the school in Rotterdam. But he cannot deal with the uncertainties surrounding taxi transport. “He doesn’t want to take a taxi anymore,” says Evita. “I have decided to keep him home on Thursday to prevent even more stress for him and for us.”
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