Director Rosaline Hoorweg of the OV Bureau Groningen has a mission: Free Public Transport (OV) for minima. That should make their possibilities and life a lot better. The Groningen municipalities of Eemsdelta and Hoogeland already have free public transport for people with a minimum income in their province, because they think that is a necessity. And it turns out to work.
“There is a group of people who really suffer from transport poverty,” says Hoorweg. “They are unable to pay a ticket for the train or bus, or they have to leave essential things for that.” 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. “Many minima cannot pay a car and are therefore dependent on public transport or a bicycle.
The public transport must be free for minima on workdays after 9 a.m., as well as in the full weekend. People with a narrow exhibition can then travel for free with all buses and regional trains in Drenthe and Groningen in off -peak hours. Regional train transport operator Arriva and bus carrier Qbuzz are already on board for the plan, says Hoorweg. Discussions with NS walk and when the plan is introduced, that torn must also participate.
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