FNV is concerned about the downsizing of public transport companies, now that the corona support from the government has not been increased to 100%. Since the start of the corona pandemic, the number of travelers using public transport has fallen sharply. The government nevertheless asked the public transport companies to continue to drive. In return, 93% of the costs are reimbursed by the government. According to Eric Vermeulen, FNV City Transport, it would be crazy for words if the effects of the public transport projects from the National Growth Fund were limited by clear cutting in public transport as a result of inadequate corona support from 1 January 2022.
"We are very pleased that the support has now been made available by the cabinet for the whole of 2021, and we have always worked hard for that. But as long as the support is not 100%, the companies can do nothing but scale down. for the traveler and not good for employment. "
Less employment
The union opposes the possibility that there will be less employment in public transport in the longer term. Henri Janssen, FNV Spoor: 'Once you cancel lines and services, they won't come back that quickly. Financing of public transport should therefore not be assessed on use, but on availability. What the current developments mean for the more than 40.000 people who work in public transport is still very uncertain. There must be more certainty about this quickly. '
After the crisis
FNV calls on the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management to consider how public transport can be quickly restored to the old level after the crisis. Marco Bouma, FNV Regional Transport, indicates that for this it is in any case necessary that until then the public transport companies are 100% compensated, so that scaling down is not necessary at all.
Also read: Sector head FNV Transport Jansma in debate with politicians
