Since the disappearance of bus line 37 at the beginning of this year, the Nieuw-Balinge, Broekstreek and Witteveen region has been without a regular bus connection. Unacceptable, according to the three village interests from the region. A solution had to be found, so from December 12 a local bus will run along the old route.
The village councils of Nieuw-Balinge, Broekstreek and Witteveen put their heads together after the loss of line 37. Discussions followed with the Public Transport Agency, the municipality of Midden-Drenthe and Connexxion about a solution. And those conversations have had results. A subsidy was provided for the start-up, the availability of a local bus and financing for the operation of the bus line.
The village interests then have the association Local bus Nieuw-Balinge, Broekstreek and Witteveen (BNW) founded. A call was made within the villages and more than thirty volunteers have now registered with the association.
Valuable
The idea, development and implementation of the new local bus were all realized within a year, and chairman Edo Staudt is proud of this: “We have 29 volunteer drivers and about seven board members. The fact that so many people are available and that we can drive within a year is very valuable. We had to work hard for that, but we succeeded.”
The bus line is mainly for school-age children. “And for people who want to do their shopping in Aalden and Zweeloo,” Staudt adds. The local bus runs from Nieuw-Balinge, via the Broekstreek and Witteveen to Aalden. The bus then drives past the boarding points back to Nieuw-Balinge and on to Hoogeveen.
Real scheduled service
The local bus runs five days a week and a ride costs 2 euros. “He rides six to seven times a day. It has really become a scheduled service. We use the old bus stops of line 37, but have also added a number of new stops along the route,” says chairman Staudt. Although you don’t necessarily have to be at a stop to ride. “The community bus has the friendliness that we take everyone with us: if you stand along the road and you raise your thumb, they will stop for you and you can get on.”
The local bus can transport eight people. Payment can be made by PIN, the idea is not to use cash. The local bus will be festively opened on Monday, December 11. The bus will arrive that day around 10 a.m. at the De Heugte village hall in Nieuw-Balinge, where mayor Jan Zwiers will take care of the official opening. The next day, on Tuesday, December 12, the bus will make its first rounds.