The Veldhoven college and Gerwen's taxi company were at odds with each other.
The municipality of Veldhoven recently put out a tender for the implementation of student transport. On the basis of this tender, the municipality has concluded a contract with De Vier Gewesten BV from Rijen. This contract is valid from the 2022/2023 school year and up to and including 2026/2027. The actual transport is performed by Van Gerwen Groep BV, franchisee of De Vier Gewesten BV.
The municipality of Veldhoven wanted to get rid of Gerwen's taxi company for the implementation of student transport. This resulted in a lengthy legal procedure with the result that they were rid of it. The fact that Veldhoven is now forced to return to Van Gerwen has to do with a recent tender† Franchise organization Vier Gewesten from Rijen, which is a national organization to which taxi and coach companies are affiliated, was the only one to tender for the tender and win. When registering, Vier Gewesten already announced that it would outsource the transport to Van Gerwen Groep bv.
A painful matter for the mayor and aldermen of Veldhoven. Van Gerwen and the Brabant municipality were previously in a heated conflict about the way in which the company provided the transport of vulnerable children in that municipality. According to the municipality, at the beginning of the school year, complaints rained down, causing the contract to be terminated because the taxi company would not fulfill its obligations. As a defense, the taxi company stated that it was mainly the fault of the municipality and initiated summary proceedings and the preliminary relief judge ruled in favor.
The tender won by Vier Gewesten will run for at least four years, from next school year up to and including 2026-2027. Taxi company van Gerwen sees no reason not to get back to work in Veldhoven under the umbrella of Four Regions. Earlier, the curtain fell for Van Gerwen Taxi BV from Zeeland (Landerd) from North Brabant. It went bankrupt, in his own words as a result of the vicissitudes with Veldhoven. It later resulted in a restart.
“Pupil transport is there for children who are vulnerable. We have to sort that out together. I have every confidence that this has been properly agreed for the coming years. The kids deserve that.”
life in discord
The roots of the Van Gerwen Group known for taxi and student transport are in Zeeland. Ever since the start of transport for this vulnerable group in September 2018, the taxi company and the Veldhoven college have been at odds with each other. According to the commission, the carrier would not fulfill its contractual agreements, as a result of which the commission dissolved the contract.
Van Gerwen filed a lawsuit, which it won because the judge ruled that the municipality could insufficiently substantiate that the carrier was failing. The taxi company claimed 268.000 euros for damage, but according to the municipality, there is no evidence of damage suffered.
If a child cannot go to school independently due to illness or a handicap, or cannot be picked up or brought to school, the municipality of Veldhoven will provide transport under certain conditions. The contract with the current provider of this student transport will expire at the end of this school year. That is why the student transport has been tendered again. Wednesday 25 May 2022 was the first working day of the new college. The aldermen were appointed during a council meeting. The portfolios are broadly divided. The further division of tasks will be worked out in the coming weeks.
