The national introduction of free public transport for minima is canceled. The regional public transport companies do not want to cooperate because the financial risks are insufficiently known and are not well covered. This will also not be available for free public transport for people with a low income in Drenthe and Groningen in the coming period.
They are very disappointed at the OV agency Groningen Drenthe.
With the card, people with a low income could travel for free in the valley hours (after 09:00). State Secretary Thierry Aartsen (VVD) did not succeed in agreeing with transport organizations on implementation. According to the State Secretary, the regional and regional carriers still see too many bears on the road in implementation and fear less income. They want a guarantee from the central government that it will then be meeting to close the possible gap.
The Federation Mobility Companies The Netherlands (FMN) that contains all regional transport companies does not want to go too deeply where it has been on. “At the moment, the financial risks have not been sufficiently portrayed and covered. That is why we, as FMN, cannot now give the proposal that lies there. If additional insights and data are available, we would like to talk again,” says Nikkie Smit of Arriva. Arriva is one of the regional carriers who have united in the FMN and themselves in favor of free public transport for minima.
The State Secretary will now focus nationally on free transport for low incomes at NS and hopes that it will ever happen that all regional transport companies will also participate and it will still be a nationwide OV product. “The State Secretary is committed to this very hard for this, but we also know that elections are coming,” sighs Rosaline Hoorweg, director of public transport office Groningen Drenthe. With which she wants to say: maybe The Hague will sail a different course afterwards.
Introduction at NS means for Drenthe: only the train connection Groningen/Drenthe to the rest of the country and not the train from Emmen to Zwolle and also without all regional bus connections. The same applies to Groningen, moreover, all regional train connections are not from NS but from Arriva.
Free public transport for minima is a big damper for public transport agency Groningen Drenthe, which is a strong supporter of it. “Disappointing that it has not been successful now, it is very important that it will eventually come,” says Hoorweg who recently explained to RTV Drenthe that minima have to do with transport poverty. They often do not have a car because they cannot pay for it and public transport is also too expensive, so minima get fewer opportunities than others who can pay it according to Hoorweg. “In Drenthe and Groningen it is about 100,000 people who are eligible for free public transport, depending on where you draw the limit: 120 or 130 percent of the social minimum.”
The public transport agency wants to look at whether in the long term only introduction in Drenthe and Groningen is possible. But with national introduction, both Europe, the cabinet and municipalities and provinces would cough up costs. If Drenthe and Groningen want it alone, the region must insert an amount of 10 million, with a map for everyone up to 120 percent of the social assistance level. 100 percent would be 5 million is a rough estimate.
Drenthe’s provincial policy had already set aside 2 million to make a start. That was for the first few years from 2026, under the old cost distribution between the EU, the government and the region. But 2 million is not enough if two provinces and all municipalities should pay for it all by themselves, Hoorweg knows.
Carrier Arriva herself is also in favor of the free travel product for minima and offers that to municipalities and provinces. But they have to pull the wallet for that. This is already happening in the municipalities of Het Hogeland and Eemsdelta in Groningen, where minima can travel in the region with both the Arriva trains and the buses of Qbuzz. For example, Eemsdelta recently has the free travel product for people with a low income extend, but that costs that municipality 5 tons per year.
The House of Representatives has adopted a motion by Mirjam Bikker (CU) and Eddy van Hijum (NCS) to make travel for minima at the Dutch Railways possible. Aartsen is now focusing on that. He hopes that someday it will come to a national pass for minima in all buses, trains, subways and trams.
The original national introduction of free travel in all public transport for minima would consist of a cabinet fee of 152.5 million and a contribution from Europe of 157.5 million. Municipalities and provinces should contribute 103.33 million.
Now that the state secretary is going to focus on only free travel at NS for minima, the question is whether Europe still wants to invest 157.5 million in it through the European Social Climate Fund.