Rural public transport is declining in sparsely populated parts of the Netherlands. This is due, in part, to a steady depopulation of small villages but decline is selfsustaining and confirmed by the national standards for level of service (NVS) based on mean ridership levels. In 1981 an application of somewhat stricter standards (for reasons of economy) caused considerable decrease of the level of service in some areas. A before and after study was undertaken by the first author on about 40 bus lines. It was sponsored by two provinces - worried about the quality of life in the countryside - and carried out in cooperation with the regional bus operators - worried about their prospects. Though two-thirds of the passengers experienced problems, in particular those on weak lines with sharply decreased level of service were severely affected. Regarding the apparent value of rural transport for its users we set out to develop a transport system integrating conventional public transport with specialist and community transport. Its purpose was threefold: to increase the general level of service without increasing deficits, to serve the needs of different user-categories as indicated by the study mentioned and to protect conventional public transport. This might be attained by dropping traditional geographic (and legal) boundaries between different systems and by utilizing different components dependent on changes in volume and character of demand during the day and the week. For the covering abstract of the conference see IRRD 276520.
Abstract