Up until now, Dutch public transport policy has generally not covered fare experiments. Recent developments in public transport however, such as the introduction of more competition and more possibilities for differentiating transit fares, create more room to experiment with fares. This paper discusses one of the few examples of measures taken concerning public transport fares in the Netherlands. In May 2001, the community of Apeldoorn introduced an experiment which consists of offering a cheap return ticket and a cheap subscription, which can be used every day of the week by people travelling by bus. One of the conclusions is that experiments concerning price reductions imply a (reasonable) financial risk for the local government concerned. This has to do with the fact that central government supplementary payments are based on income made on ticket sales. A fare experiment takes quite some time to prepare and governments should take enough time to take into account all aspects. One of the conditions for a successful experiment is to involve, from the start, all parties that have a role in the financing, the realisation or the monitoring of the experiment. The paper ends by stressing the importance of good communication and the role that monitoring plays in keeping an eye on the results and in making decisions on whether or not to make adjustments. (A) For the covering abstract of the conference see ITRD E206647.
Abstract