GroenLinks and PvdA want experiments in which the lowest paid can travel for free with public transport. They also want to undo the price increases by making wealthy citizens and companies pay more tax.
The two cooperating left-wing factions will present their plan ‘Everyone gets in’ on Monday. In it they propose to allocate 400 million euros to combat ‘transport poverty’. According to the parties, this has increased because the government did accommodate motorists by lowering fuel excise duties, but allowed the prices for bus or train tickets to rise.
Members of Parliament Habtamu de Hoop (PvdA) and Kauthar Bouchallikht (GroenLinks) say they want to tackle the ‘clear cut in public transport’. Both are intensive public transport users. De Hoop does have a driver’s license, but drives from Friesland to Hoorn, parks his car there and then takes the train to The Hague. “If I don’t, I’ll travel for five hours!”
Bouchallikht is in The Hague in an hour and a half. ,,Every time something goes wrong, I think: Kauthar, you have to do something about this. The conductors and bus drivers also want good public transport.”
De Hoop: ,,They now sometimes get a big mouth because they strike for better working conditions. Then I think: come on guys, those are people who do their very best.”
De Hoop outlines that public transport has come under pressure since the corona pandemic, when the number of travelers fell sharply. As a result, bus lines in the regions deteriorated, but services and lines also fell into disrepair within cities. “We just have to get rid of that yield thinking. Public transport must serve society more.”
‘OV must be a basic right’
Bouchallikht: ,, Public transport must be a primary basic right, not something that earns money. There are small groups that really need public transport. People in wheelchairs and the visually impaired are very hard forgotten.”
The GroenLinkser therefore believes that an accessibility standard of 45 minutes should be enforceable. Citizens must be able to obtain a taxi voucher through the municipal counter if they cannot be at school, at the supermarket or hospital within 45 minutes of departure. Municipalities must be able to declare this to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management.
Roll back price increases
The MPs point out that motorists were compensated for 1.2 billion euros when petrol prices were very high, while prices for tram, bus and metro tickets rose by 7 percent and train tickets by 4.3 percent. The Central Planning Bureau has calculated that reversing those price increases will cost 400 million euros. The two factions want to pay for this by increasing the profit tax and the tax on capital.
The duo wants to experiment for a year in cities and in the countryside. Results must be monitored in all sorts of areas. If the tests turn out well, public transport may become free afterwards.
‘People with low incomes need a push’
Bouchallikht and De Hoop are enthusiastic about experiments in Germany with – almost – free public transport in the form of a ticket that costs only 9 euros per month. The run on that ticket surprised everyone, and the price was increased to 49 euros.
,,You saw how important that ticket was found in Germany there. Start with low-income people who need that push,” says De Hoop. ,,Look at people who now have an Ooievaarspas”, adds Bouchallikht. “We say: it costs money, but it should be worth it to society if everyone participates.”
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