MONITORING FARES POLICY IN THE NETHERLANDS

In 1983 the Minister of Transport and Public Works of the Netherlands presented a public transport fares plan covering the period 1984-1987. Fares for metro, trams and buses would go up by 10% in real terms each year, train fares by 3% per annum. Fares structure would also change so that higher prices were charged for peak use and for travel in large cities. This plan was an important deviation from current policy based on yearly changes proportional to changes in the retail price index. Its purpose was to keep the growing public transport deficits within the limits of existing multi-annual budget forecasts. An important element was the rising trend of public transport patronage prevailing at the time of its inception. This permitted fares to be raised with only little change in the absolute level of service and employment. Parliament accepted only the first installment of the plan, effective from 1 April 1984. A programme of data collection and analysis was set up in order to monitor the effects on public transport patronage and the changes in activity patterns of (former) public transport users. The last aspect is being studied by means of a panel survey that can only provide information after a series of measurements. Passenger surveys were organised and analysed before discussions took place with the operators and in Parliament on fare changes in 1985. The final outcome of this process was that fare changes effective from 1 April 1985 will be considerably different from the original plan; single and return fares on Netherlands Railways will even be lowered by 2 and a half per cent (4% in real terms). For the covering abstract of the seminar see IRRD 286719. (TRRL)

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Transport Policy. Proceedings of Seminar K held at the PTRC Summer Annual Meeting, University of Sussex, England, 15-18 July 1985, Volume P267.
• Corporate Authors:

  PTRC Education and Research Services Limited

  110 Strand
  London WC2,   England 
• Authors:
  • RUEHL, A
  • CHEUNG, F
  • TINSELBOER, H
• Conference:
  • Planning & Transport Res & Comp, Sum Ann Mtg, Proc
• Publication Date: 1985

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: p. 95-100

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Fares; Legislation; Peak periods; Policy making; Pricing; Public transit; Subsidies; Transportation policy; Travel patterns; Urban areas
• Identifier Terms: Nederlandse Spoorwegen
• Geographic Terms: Netherlands; United States
• Old TRIS Terms: National transportation policies
• ITRD Terms: 1272: Bus; 8525: Conference; 183: Government (national); 9147: Interview; 653: Level of service; 8078: Netherlands; 2271: Occupation; 612: Peak hour; 173: Policy; 744: Public transport; 241: Tariff; 1284: Tram; 1191: Underground railway; 313: Urban area; 9084: Use; 1715: Vehicle occupant
• Subject Areas: Economics; Finance; Highways; Law; Planning and Forecasting; Policy; Public Transportation; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00457327
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport Research Laboratory
• Report/Paper Numbers: Monograph
• Files: ITRD, TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 31 1986 12:00AM