Since the beginning of this year there have been problems with student transport in Breda and the surrounding area. Parents complain about varying staff, children are picked up too late and there are drivers who have no experience with students who go to special education. “Sometimes I have no idea who I give my child with. That doesn’t make me feel safe,” says a mother.
Michel Verschuren, councilor for the SP in Breda, is in an app group where parents can share complaints about student transport. It is not the first time that there are problems. After the summer holidays of 2023 it rained complaints. Due to a lot of pressure and supervision of the municipality, they were largely resolved after a few months. Now it seems that the children and parents are back.
Also read: Dozens of complaints about student transport Special education: ‘stressful’
“A problem came in occasionally in the app group, but that was quickly arranged. Since the beginning of this year, it has been raining complaints again,” says Verschuren. “In particular about the many different drivers. It looks like a déjà vu. “
Jeroen den Ridder from Breda has a ten -year -old daughter who uses student transport. She has a rare syndrome, which has an effect on her muscles, and a hearing aid and ‘therefore needs extra attention’.
Jeroen has enough complaints. “It went well for a while, but it is completely wrong again: the ride planning is incredibly changeable and the app works very badly.” With the app, parents can see when the transport comes and whether they have arrived at school or return home.
“I lost my daughter once. That was pretty intense.”
Jeroen even lost his daughter once. “I couldn’t see where she was on the app. Then I called the Connexxion help desk. They didn’t know it either. That was pretty intense.”
He is also annoyed by the many different drivers. “First we had a regular driver and that was fantastic for us, but it was picked up.” According to him, the unreliability has an enormous amount of impact. “If the transport for my daughter is not there, it automatically means that my 6 year old son is also late at his school, or that I can start my work late. My daughter often comes home a few hours late and because of that For example, they miss a swimming lesson. ” Yet he does not want to complain too hard: “We are not even the most harrowing case.”
“Since a few weeks it has been a mess.”
Clarissa Roelants from Prinsenbeek, mother of a ten -year -old son who is dependent on student transport, confirms that the problems have increased enormously since the beginning of this year. “Thursday was the uncertain day, the only day without the regular driver. Since a few weeks it has been a mess.”
She sees that the current shortage of staff at Connexxion is supplemented by the self -employed. “There will be drivers who are in the center of Breda on Saturday evening. Only one came with a yellow license plate, their own car. There are really nice drivers, but how authorized to transport these types of students? Someone with epilepsy for example ? “
Moreover, independent drivers do not work with the Connexxion app and she cannot see if her son has arrived at school. “He now sends me an app every day that he has arrived safely. He never did that for this.”
Thijs, who does not want to be mentioned with his last name, is the father of an 8-year-old son ‘with a developmental delay in different areas’. He uses student transport four days a week.
“I provided my son with a GPS tracker.”
“That went well for a while,” says Thijs. He is annoyed by the app. He rarely or never works. “I am a software engineer and see what could be improved. They have opted for the cheapest app and a too low server capacity.” Because the app rarely works, he has provided his son with a GPS tracker. “I am not of these types of measures, but I couldn’t do anything else.”
According to Thijs, the municipality really does everything they can. According to him, the core of the problem lies in the tendering of transport to Connexxion. “Everything has to be cheap, it is for Connexxion masswork instead of customization. If a euro can be cut, they will do it. It is no more than counting.”
Alderman Arjen van Drunen of Education ‘is very disappointed’ of the new problems at Connexxion. “Last year we seemed to have the leak above water and it went well, but since the beginning of this year there are many complaints,” he knows. “We also spoke with Connexxion last week to make a step -by -step plan. Mind you, the problems are not nearly as big as a year and a half ago, but that is why they have to be resolved.”
“We do not recognize ourselves in the aforementioned complaints”
Strangely enough, according to Connexxion, despite complaints from parents and a baling alderman, there is nothing wrong. “We do not recognize ourselves in the aforementioned complaints,” says a spokesperson. “We have a very constructive attitude with the municipality and they see it that way.”
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