Unreliable buses and a lot of absenteeism: the hitchhiker’s pole in Zeewolde doesn’t help either

Hitchhiking is back: at the Kwartiermakerslaan bus stop in Zeewolde you can take the bus and ride with motorists. Since November last year, there has been a hitchhiker’s pole here with a sign showing a raised thumb, the universal sign for: can I have a lift?

The sign is probably intended for adults, thinks Guusje (13), who is waiting for the bus. She herself wouldn’t board with strangers. It is still early in Zeewolde, most of the young people at the stop go to school. It remains to be seen whether they will arrive in time. The bus is already four minutes late. A punctual bus is not a given in Zeewolde – if it comes at all.

The provinces want to be in the first rank for a dime

According to the municipality of Zeewolde, the hitchhiker’s pole is “an opportunity for residents to give each other a (sustainable) helping hand when it comes to times outside the timetable, or when public transport is out of service.” Councilor Ernst Bron (CU) emphasizes that the hitchhiker’s pole only offers an option for residents of Zeewolde to get around. According to him, it has nothing to do with the problems in public transport.

Since December last year, EBS has been providing bus transport in the IJssel-Vecht area (Flevoland, Gelderland and Overijssel), and therefore also in and near Zeewolde. After the change of concession, the company is struggling with several problems: delayed buses and cancellations due to high absenteeism and staff shortages. At the end of March 2024, around 15 percent of rides in Flevoland were canceled, according to a report. reporting from EBS.

The newly introduced electric buses also showed shortcomings. On April 14, the carrier and province had to shorten the timetable by 10 percent. It was not fully resumed until December 15.

Accelerate

The bus arrives in Zeewolde, a little later than expected. The side says: “Commissioned by the provinces of Flevoland, Gelderland and Overijssel.” In 2022, these three merged public transport in the IJssel-Vecht concession, which was won by EBS. Not only did this operator want to drive completely electrically (forty diesel buses are still running), EBS also wanted to expand and speed up the timetable.

Despite all ambitions, complaints soon arose from the province and EBS. Buses were late, overcrowded or didn’t even show up. The executor had to be accountable to the province for the substandard performance.

According to FNV director Veronika Teunissen, every carrier would have encountered the same problems, because the provinces simply set too high requirements. “They want a ringside seat for a dime.”

Because EBS did not comply with timetable agreements, the three provinces imposed a fine of 3.5 million euros on the company last year. They also did not pay for bus rides that were not driven. This cost EBS another 1 million euros.

Battery

An order of exclusively electric buses is too ambitious, says FNV director Teunissen. In winter the battery drains faster due to the cold, in summer the air conditioning requires a lot of power. The previous bus operator, Keolis, asked staff to keep the temperature at a maximum of 15 degrees so that the battery was not overloaded. “Not good working conditions,” says Teunissen. EBS had to take over the electric buses from Keolis. They also received the equipment problems for free.

Teunissen says that these problems fueled absenteeism and staff shortages. According to EBS, the high absenteeism was also related to corona: “After that, absenteeism was not reduced to the previous level,” EBS press spokesperson Jasper Vermeer said.

A punctual bus is not a given in Zeewolde – if it comes at all

In Overijssel, the SP and PvdA have asked questions about the safety of EBS buses. A tour of these parties among the drivers revealed all kinds of defects: too long a braking distance, defective doors and heaters, ergonomically incorrect driver seats and pulling steering wheels.

An answer from the Provincial Executive to the questions from the SP and PvdA shows that a number of problems have already been resolved. Others are more common with electric vehicles, such as those that pull steering wheels, so “buses where drivers indicate that the steering wheel pulls are removed from operation.”

Charging infrastructure

Problems that cannot be solved quickly, such as the charging infrastructure, are being worked on. The power network is not prepared for the electricity demand of the buses. Initially, EBS wanted to load the buses in Emmeloord and Lelystad. These places turned out to be unsuitable for the high electricity demand of the buses and the drivers had to divert to Nagele and Lelystad Airport. This required more travel time and more deployment of staff and extra buses. And while the order from Ebusco (a supplier of electric buses) for thirty electric buses was delayed and EBS was struggling with a staff shortage.

In the meantime, EBS has got its workforce back in order, but not the charging infrastructure. According to the press spokesperson, this will take a few years.

FNV director Teunissen believes that provinces should set realistic requirements for a carrier and that they should focus more on feasibility. Because: “The drivers and passengers are now suffering.” And then even a well-intentioned initiative such as a hitchhiker’s pole offers no solution.

Councilor Ernst Bron drives past the hitchhiker pole every day. “It’s not stormy yet. We’ll give it a chance for a year.” He remains optimistic: “There are also places for hitchhikers in cities. And for a village with thin lines [plekken waar minder bussen rijden] a hitchhiker’s stop is not bad at all.”

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