In Drenthe and Groningen no public bus transport will be deleted next year, despite cuts from the cabinet. By removing money from the piggy bank and very tightly budgeting, the Groningen-Drenthe public transport agency hopes to be able to cope with the cuts.
In addition, the House of Representatives has worked hard for extra money towards bus transport. If there are no new setbacks, then no bus lines need to be deleted, according to the public transport agency.
But how long is this going well? The piggy bank is almost empty and for the future there must be more buses instead of less. That is what director Rosalinde Hoorweg of the public transport agency and transport deputy Henk Jumelet think. Both find the situation now, but certainly after next year and in the future “untenable.”
The cabinet will cut 335 million euros on public transport. 225 million euros is cut on public transport for students and that affects both provinces. For example, the cutback on the public transport card for students for Drenthe amounts to 7 million euros less.
There is no separate public transport for students, so the cutback of 225 million euros is at the expense of the entire public transport network and all travelers, according to the Groningen-Drenthe public transport office.
Traveler organization Rover calculated last week that the cabinet interventions will end up a cut of 11 million euros in Drenthe, which now appears to be 7 million euros at bus transport.
So for next year the cold now seems out of the blue. The public transport agency has made a budget with squeaking and cracking. “What saves us for the most part, are the so-called Bikker funds (regularly submitted through a motion by Member Mirjam Bikker). That money came after the Coronaper period and is structurally. That ensures 9.8 million euros extra. But that money is largely necessary to prevent the earlier rate of the owner and almost 700. Luck to maintain the current timetable, “said deputy Henk Jumelet.
Although there is also a warning. There is not much to happen and then there will be pain for travelers next year. Hoorweg emphasizes that it is a design budget. “This is now conclusive, but there can be no new setbacks or cost increases. The bottom of the reserve is in sight, just like the lower limit of the public transport network. In new setbacks, the scaling of the timetable and the increase of the bus ticket unfortunately will be in the picture again.”
Hoorweg and Jumelet find the financial situation for the future untenable. Hoorweg: “We have already had a hefty handle in our reserves and they have been up once. In fact, we should already drive more journeys due to traveler growth, and then I am not talking about the doubling of public transport in Drenthe in the direction of 2040. If you really want to get many more car drivers on the bus, then that is not possible with the money for this serving schedule. Come per hour. You want the bus to drive more often in the region. “
“Look at the wishes of the Bargeres, Rietlanden, Parc Sandur and Delftlanden in Emmen, who want a bus connection with train station Emmen Zuid. That is not possible now,” Jumelet outlines as an example.
And then there is 4 million euros to be cut. This ends up at the regional train connections, the trains of Arriva between Emmen and Zwolle and in the province of Groningen. What that means for the Emmen – Zwolle connection is not yet known.