Public transport has always been a responsibility of the national government in the Netherlands. Starting in 1998, provinces in the Netherlands will be responsible for regional public transport. The Transport and Economics Department of the province of South Holland has started a project to explore the need of data on regional public transport. This paper describes the first results of the project. The need of data has been explored by interviewing policymakers. The availability of data has also been scanned. Need and availability have been matched. This information is used to make a rough design of a regional public transport information system. It is concluded that there is an enormous amount of data. The problem to be solved will be to aggregate and present the data to give useful information for policymakers. Provinces will have to invest in manpower and knowledge to build and use the information system. The "Kennisplatform VERDI" is a cooperation between the national government, provinces and communities in the Netherlands in the field of research and knowledge on transport. VERDI will be helpful to exchange information and experience on this subject. (A)
Abstract