Travelers in the Zaanstreek and Waterland run the risk of paying too much for their bus trip due to a bug in the check-in devices. According to carrier EBS, the system registers that the traveler checks in at a stop that differs from the traveler’s actual location.
Janneke bought a bus subscription for her son, so that he can easily travel from Broek in Waterland to his school in Amsterdam. But the online data showed a completely different ride.
“In the first few months it regularly happened that he checked in in Monnickendam according to the site, while he simply checks in in Broek,” says Janneke. Which resulted in 1 euro 79 in extra costs per time. “He even checked out in Landsmeer once, while he actually checks out at North station.”
Marken, Purmerend, Zaandam or Amsterdam?
Janneke’s story is not an isolated one, because other travelers also noticed it at the bus stop in Broek in Waterland. “I got off in Marken and then I saw Tramplein in Purmerend on the device,” said a traveler. Another checked out in Zaandam according to the system, while she actually got off in Amsterdam-Noord.
In Zaanstad, Dustin Benjamins keeps track of complaints from the bus company. He has already received hundreds of emails. He also sees that things sometimes go wrong during check-in. “One time it costs 1 euro 33 and another time 4 euros,” writes a mother of a traveler. If she wants to complain to the carrier, she is sent from pillar to post, she tells Dustin.
“We see that things are going wrong here and there,” admits a spokesperson for bus company EBS. “It’s a bug that makes the bus think it’s in the wrong place.”
It works like this: the card reader receives information from the bus’s on-board computer at which stop it is. In addition, there is also an odometer in the device, so that he can calculate where the bus is. “That sometimes goes wrong, causing the bus to think it is in the wrong place.”
According to the carrier, there were only two complaints in January. In the past, the problem was structural for some travelers in Edam, but that has reportedly been resolved. According to EBS, it is now a sporadic problem, but it is being looked at extra critically. “It has been reported sometimes, but those are a handful of complaints.” According to the spokesperson, EBS handles half a million check-ins and outs per week.
Not everyone reports it
“It may also be the case that not everyone reports complaints,” said the EBS spokesperson.
Janneke also finds it annoying that she has to fill out forms to request the 1.77 back. EBS hopes that people will continue to raise the alarm when things go wrong, so that they can properly identify the problems.