Withoff has lived in Australia for over 25 years, but is in the Netherlands to visit family. Time and time again he has problems with public transport when he visits his birthplace Stadskanaal.
It is around nine o’clock when Withoff is standing in his electric wheelchair at the bus transferium in Gieten. That evening he went out for dinner with friends in the city of Groningen. After a pleasant evening, they put him on the bus at the main station where his journey to Stadskanaal begins. There he lives with his mother. In 2008 Withoff suffered a cerebral infarction, which made him dependent on his wheelchair.
“There were no problems at the main station and I was able to board the bus with the help of the wheelchair lift. To get to Stadskanaal, I have to change at the transferium at Gieten.”
Once arrived in Gieten, Withoff waits for the bus that will take him from the transferium to Stadskanaal. But when the bus driver on duty pulled up, he would have had only one message for Withoff: “You can’t come along, and there’s no discussion.”
The reason? Withoff’s electric wheelchair would be too heavy for the bus’s wheelchair lift. Nonsense, according to Withoff. “It is clearly written in the Qbuzz transport conditions that a wheelchair, including the user, may weigh up to 350 kilograms. My wheelchair is only 136.5 kilograms. Count on me, of about 100 kilograms, then you are still far from the maximum weight.”
Nevertheless, the driver is unrelenting and Withoff is left alone at the transferium. In the cold he then waits an hour for the next bus. Meanwhile, his friends contact Qbuzz’s customer service.
Friend Francien Geertsema: “The dispatcher then promised us on the phone that the next bus driver would take him with him.”
Yet nothing could be further from the truth. The same bus driver as before, who has now completed his round, has returned. With still the same message: Withoff is not allowed. When Withoff asks the driver how to get home, the answer is ‘it wasn’t his responsibility’.
Friend Geertsema is also angry and disappointed: “I think it’s so bad that they left a disabled man alone in the cold. Out of necessity I arranged a taxi for him, which also means extra costs. Meindert was finally home around twelve, a delay of about three hours. It’s outrageous.”
Time and time again, Withoff is hit with public transport in the Netherlands, he complains: “I still have a good relationship with Groningen and I really like coming here to see what everything looks like, but traveling takes away a large part of the fun. It is always a question of what problems will arise with public transport along the way, or whether I will be picked up at all: every time is a gamble.”
Withoff hopes that after this incident Qbuzz will finally really solve the problem. “I hope they will give drivers structural instructions on how to deal with disabled people, so that I can rely on public transport again. And that is not just about me, but about all disabled people who have problems with public transport. I keep waiting for a systematic solution.”
RTV Noord has asked Qbuzz for a response, but the carrier has not (yet) responded, according to the broadcaster.