Take the Bus; It's Cheaper in North Brabant

This paper describes how, after a pilot in 2006 with free public transport during one weekend, the provincial government decided to extend this experiment with some additional pilots: free public transport in some cities and free public transport for special groups. Later it was decided to carry out two extensive pilots: the first pilot ran from May 2008 – October 2009 where children under 12 and elderly people can make use of buses at a very reduced rate of 30 eurocents per hour. The second pilot ran from January 2009 – June 2010 where people between 12 – 64 years old can make use of buses at a reduced rate of 60 eurocents (off-peak) and 90 eurocents (peak) per hour. With these two pilot programs the Province of Noord-Brabant aimed at the following objectives: social inclusion, liveability; less pollution / carbon dioxide (CO2)-emissions; and less congestion/more use of public transport. Implementation and evaluation of both pilots have been extensively monitored and evaluated, using the following approach: (1) extensive questionnaires for bus users; (2) telephone and internet questionnaire for zero state and pilot evaluation; (3) personal interviews with bus drivers and (re)sellers of bus tickets; and (4) comparing existing sources/statistics on number of travelers, travel length, tickets, travel times, congestion, cycling, etc., both before and during the pilots. The results of the evaluation have been presented to the Province of Noord-Brabant using the four main criteria requested by the Province of Noord-Brabant: impact on mobility; impact on economy/congestion; impact on environment; and impact on social inclusion.

• Record URL:
  https://aetransport.org/past-etc-papers/conference-papers-pre-2009/conference-papers-2010
• Corporate Authors:

  Association for European Transport (AET)

  1 Vernon Mews, Vernon Street, West Kensington
  London W14 0RL,    
• Authors:
  • van Eck, Ans
  • Jorna, Ronald
  • de Jong, Wouter
• Conference:
  • European Transport Conference, 2010
  • Location: Glasgow Scotland, United Kingdom
  • Date: 2010-10-11 to 2010-10-13
• Publication Date: 2010

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: Tables;
• Pagination: 7p
• Monograph Title: European Transport Conference, 2010 Proceedings

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bus transit; Bus transportation; Discount fares; Free fares; Mobility; Public transit; Traffic congestion; Transit operating agencies
• Uncontrolled Terms: Emissions reduction
• Geographic Terms: Noord-Brabant
• Subject Areas: Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01351747
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Sep 14 2011 11:12AM