On Tuesday, November 4, the Senate voted on the House of Representatives initiative bill for the Provincial In-House Public Transport Concessions Act. The proposal by the bills sponsors, Members of the House Haptamu de Hoop (GroenLinks-PvdA) and Olger van Dijk (NSC), was accepted. The factions of Walenkamp, OPNL, GroenLinks-PvdA, D66, SGP, Volt, CDA, PVV, FVD, SP, PvdD, ChristenUnie, BBB, 50PLUS, and Van de Sanden voted in favor of the bill, while the factions of VVD and JA21 voted against it. Three motions were also voted on.
The proposal allows provinces to establish their own transport company, known as in-house provision. This can be done, for example, if market parties show no interest in offering public transport (PT) in sparsely populated regions or withdraw due to financial risks. The Senate voted on the bill and the submitted motions on Tuesday, November 4.
The initiators want to improve the organization and financing of regional public transport. In the Netherlands, public transport operates on the basis of a concession. With a concession, a carrier receives the exclusive right to offer public transport in a certain area for a certain period. For regional transport, the province grants this concession. Usually for a period of ten or fifteen years. The province determines which bus lines exist and how often they run. The initiative bill regulates that provinces can choose their own public transport company. This is called in-house provision. No public tender is then required.
- -Motion Van Langen-Visbeek regarding attention to bottlenecks in establishing a provincial transport company.
- -Motion Van Langen-Visbeek on additional forms of appreciation for volunteers maintaining transport connections.
- -Motion Dessing on relaxing or removing electrification requirements for disappearing bus lines.
The State Secretary for Infrastructure and Water Management had advised against the motions.
