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It now has full attention, but solutions are emergency bandages.

“Pointing at each other is maddening,” Wiersma explained his frustration. How could a sector have sunk so deeply into the abyss? It must be electric, it must be sustainable, it must be cheap, it must not harm politics, it must transport everything except children who require care from home to school or day care in a reliable way.

case in The Hague

“A starvation wage,” the minister admitted. Drivers who are the first to be called to account for the results of years of political policy and who slide into the abyss. The result of a sector that cooperated in squeezing itself under the heading of market forces. Everything neatly arranged in the Passenger Transport Act 2000 (Wp2000), which came into effect on 1 January 2001, with the aim of improving the quality and efficiency of transport as well as lowering the cost of transport.

Drivers who don't always try to keep easy children under control and at the same time keep an eye on the road. And all that for an hourly wage of twelve euros per hour. A wage that is a subject of controversy and has been harassing the trade unions CNV and FNV and the employers' organization KNV for months. So much so that the NEA index will be determined two weeks later because there is no new collective labor agreement yet. These are private companies in which the government has only a limited role.

tender

The Passenger Transport Act provided for a different market organization for taxi transport, namely an almost complete liberalization in which anyone who met a few minimum conditions could take to the road as a taxi driver. On the other hand, there was the emergence of control centers. A solution model imposed on civil servants by connectors who are successful in tenders because they bridge the gap between the needs of travelers, the vision and resources of public organizations and the offer of carriers.

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At least, that was the theory, but it is rather a model in which there is no longer room for the enthusiasm of small local entrepreneurs who bring pupils to school with passion and if necessary are in direct contact with the parents if there is an unexpected delay on the way.

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It now has full attention, but solutions are emergency bandages.

Politicians The Hague agrees and wants to reverse decentralization. If the House calls on the Minister to do so, he is also prepared to consider whether it would be better to reverse the decentralization of student transport and bring it back to the central government. Something that the cabinet and the House of Representatives are still throwing on the board of the municipality to find out the solution model by local politicians. Since 1986, the municipalities have been responsible for the implementation of student transport.

responsible

Not an easy task, because every opposition party wants to hold a responsible alderman liable for agreements arising from tenders. It is so bad today that even carriers are holding local politicians responsible for their own inability. In doing so, all means are pulled out of the closet and people even ignore the fact that in many cases drivers no longer even want to work for carriers. Such a thing is now called a staff shortage, but a good collective labor agreement will also benefit the exodus in the sector!

But for now we mainly see emergency solutions. They are palliatives, and that is distressing. MP Paul van Meenen wants to oblige municipalities to pay for a taxi if it is not possible to arrange transport in another way. That is in the first place the solution to ease the grief of children and parents. The only question is, where do you get that taxi from? On the other hand, the municipalities then charge the taxpayer twice for the same transport. Also complicated situations for the parents, because who calls the taxi that is still available and what does the rest of the parents do?

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attention

The Taxi and Healthcare Transport sector has seen the problems increase for years. Many tenders turn into a drama, a political twist, a media spectacle, an expensive investigation and subsequent sad conclusions where in most cases everyone is held responsible on the sidelines. Not the politics, the vision of the carrier or the tendering system about which questions are asked. In order to draw attention to this problem, it was necessary for Elijah Delsink, chairman of the sector organization Pupil Interest in Secondary Special Education (LBVSO), to present a petition with 100.000 signatures to the Minister prior to the committee debate.

It now has full attention, but solutions are emergency bandages. And that is the grief of students, parents and drivers. Something needs to be done to solve the problems with the transport of pupils to special education, but in the short term we are dependent on emergency measures. How hard can it be to get someone from A to B?

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