The share of cyclists in buses and trams has increased considerably since the start of the corona crisis. For the ‘intelligent lockdown’, barely 1 percent of travelers did not pay for transport. Now that share has grown to more than 20 percent, chairman Pedro Peters of umbrella organization OV-NL told NU.nl on Tuesday.
Earlier, the PZC already an increase in the share of black drivers in the province of Zeeland. Branch organization OV-NL, which represents more than ninety Dutch transport companies, confirms that this is now a national trend.
The increase in the share of fare-grabber is emphatically not the case for trains and metros, because passengers then have to pass through gates before boarding. “But buses and trams can no longer be properly checked, now that passengers have to get in the back,” Peters explains.
‘It is also about ladies in suits’
“This situation brings out the worst in some people,” he explains. “Many people take advantage of the situation and simply no longer chip. It is really not just rowdy young people, but also ladies in neat suits.” All bus operators report this behavior.
The cabinet has designated the carriers as vital to Dutch society. This means that trains, metros, trams and buses also run during quarantine. A third of the regular journeys are made. Currently, less than 10 percent of the five million people who normally use public transport on a working day.
The number of incidents in the public transport has also increased
In addition to an increase in the share of fare drivers, Peters also notes an increase in the number of violent incidents, especially in buses and trams. “We have registered a striking number of spitting incidents in all shapes and sizes in the past weeks,” he says. “This ranges from spitting at other passengers or the driver to spitting on buttons and doors.”
In this case, however, it usually concerns young people. “They are bored and become extremely rowdy,” Peters said. “Sometimes the bad behavior continues. There are even stones thrown through windows of buses.”
The past few weeks have been “at least dozens of spitting incidents”. Drivers and passengers often report this, but in practice it turns out to be difficult to arrest perpetrators. “The police and the judiciary are tackling these excesses where possible. Perpetrators have already been sentenced to eight weeks in prison: this misconduct must be combated very vigorously.”
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