The Dutch government has introduced a railway ticket for €49 per month, for unlimited travel during off-peak hours. The previous price for this ticket was €128. The idea is to encourage people to take public transport during the present oil crisis.
This 'Nederland-ticket' will be kept until September 1st, when the old price will be back in effect.
That is, unless the ticket proves too popular; then the Nederland-ticket might disappear sooner.
Let me repeat this last part. If the Nederland-ticket, which is meant to encourage people to take public transport, is too successful in what it sets out to do, it will be terminated early.
The logic is this. The government has set aside €118 million for this project, to compensate railway companies such as NS for the 'lost income'. If the costs rise above that €118 million figure, the project has to be stopped, to prevent further costs.
Do I even need to explain how stupid that is?
Look, I wholeheartedly applaud the efforts to make public transport affordable (i.e. closer to actually being 'public'). But it's obvious that as long as this is happening in a context where railway providers are private companies looking to make a profit, it's always going to stay limited to 'pilots' and 'experiments'. The 'cost management' logic will always win out over the needs of people and planet.
https://nos.nl/artikel/2618658-nederland-ticket-moet-reiziger-vanaf-vandaag-de-trein-in-trekken
#NS #trein #OV #PublicTransport #NLpol #OpenbaarVervoer #overheid #capitalism #kapitalisme #NederlandTicket