There will be 52 new Qbuzzzen where no more wheelchair lift is needed. “And until that time we will insist that all Qbuzz drivers receive good training on the use of the wheelchair lift.” That insured transport deputy Henk Jumelet today Provincial States.
Wheelchair user Jan Meursing (75) from Gieten had to let two buses pass and wait a long time because the wheelchair lift did not work. No replacement transport was arranged for the traveler, while it should have been. Two years ago, Qbuzz started the same mistake with a wheelchair user at the Pouring Public Prosecution Service.
Jumelet, incidentally, believes that the drivers do their utmost and be of goodwill. But why does things go wrong, member Gerben Brandsema of the ChristenUnie wanted to know. He has indications that the drivers do not always know how the wheelchair lift should be served.
“I expect Qbuzz that roller lifts are regularly checked and that drivers know how to act”, director Rosalinde Hoorweg of the OV agency Groningen Drenthe said yesterday when she imposed a fine of 10,000 euros due to the incident.
Jumelet: “Pulping a fine is the last thing you do. But every incident is one too much. Public transport must be accessible to everyone. Point. Such a fine is a signal.”
Qbuzz was asked by RTV Drenthe for a response to the incident and the fine, but has not yet given it.
The buses that require a lift are so -called high -floor buses. The only ones who still drive around in Drenthe and Groningen are the blue Qliners: the express buses between Drachten and Groningen, Assen and Groningen, Emmen and Groningen, Stadskanaal and Groningen and Assen and Veendam.
Due to the high floor, the buses also have a high entry. That has to do with the maximum speed of 100 km/h, for which there was no alternative when these buses were built.
The new Qliners that arrive at the end of 2025 or early 2026 do have a low floor, so that no more wheelchair lift is needed.