Shortages in public bus transport in Groningen and Drenthe are increasing. The number of journeys in the countryside is declining. Who pulls the wallet?
Groningen and Drenthe are waiting for a million-dollar cut in public transport. Eight bus lines are in danger of disappearing completely. In 2024, a new round of cuts of at least 5 and perhaps more than 7 million euros will follow. Reason: less income and higher costs.
Coalition party PvdA in the Groningen city council wants the city, the largest public transport hub in the North, to put money on the table to save bus lines. The alderman also has to go around with the cap at the other 21 municipalities in Groningen and Drenthe. With this, council member Rita Pestman (PvdA) pleads for solidarity between the city and the countryside. She believes that the city cannot let the region burst. The impoverishment of public transport mainly affects sparsely populated areas.
Green Left sputters against
Coalition partner GroenLinks is not pleased with the PvdA’s request. On paper, public bus transport is a matter for the national government and the provinces. GroenLinks believes that the municipality of Groningen is already investing a lot of money in bus infrastructure in the city. Think of adjustments to roads, bus lanes and stations and other facilities. GroenLinks has a hard time with it if the city, despite The Hague and provincial subsidies for these projects, has to pay extra money for saving bus lines in the region.
The agreement within the Public Transport Agency Groningen Assen is that the provinces and the national government pay for public transport. If public transport use does not increase fast enough, then tougher interventions will have to be made in the timetables on unprofitable lines.
The public transport agency Groningen Drenthe, which has a turnover of more than 110 million euros per year, is 8.2 million short of the budget for 2024. It will itself receive 3 million. It has already planned 5 million euros (2.5 million more than this year) in cutbacks in the draft timetable for 2024. The agency is counting on additional contributions from provinces and municipalities for 2 million. If they do not cross the bridge, another eight complete bus lines will disappear.
With the request to raise money from the municipalities, alderman Philip Broeksma (GroenLinks) accepts the nudge of coalition partner PvdA. The alderman promises to submit the request to his fellow administrators at the Groningen Drenthe public transport office. It has happened before that the municipality of Groningen made the cut. In 2013 she jumped in when the cost of diesel skyrocketed. The council then grumblingly agreed to a contribution.
It is obvious that Groningen will help. The municipality is a 21 percent shareholder in the public transport agency. If things get even worse financially, there may come a time when the municipality has to contribute to prevent public transport from going under.
In turn, the provinces can plead for more public transport money for the region before Prinsjesdag in The Hague. Northern unity is then an advantage. According to the PvdA, solidarity between the City and the Ommeland reinforces the signal that public transport in sparsely populated regions is not just a cost item, but a necessary investment in quality of life and less car use.
The municipality of Groningen has been trying for years to slow down the increase in car traffic in the city. Commuters are requested to park their cars at P+R areas on the outskirts of the city. Paid parking and leaving the bus timetable intact as much as possible should also ensure that more people leave their car at home.
File a complaint with the European Commission
To save regional bus lines, northern drivers can do more than put money into the pot themselves. Together with the United Netherlands Municipalities (VNG) and the Interprovincial Consultation (IPO), a complaint against the central government can be considered with the European Commission. In the hope that ‘The Hague’ will be reprimanded and come across the bridge. European policy is to reduce car use with adequate public transport. From ‘Brussels’, the government must enable the provinces in sparsely populated regions to promote public transport instead of destroying it.