The effects of student passes on travel demands, car ownership and differential trip patterns between weekday and weekend passes are considered. On 1 January 1991, the Public Transport Pass for Students (OV-S) was introduced in the Netherlands. The pass was issued to all students who received a study grant from the Ministry of Education. OV-S enabled the holder to travel on all forms of public transport at any time throughout the country without having to pay fares. The effects were evaluated in a series of before and after studies in 1990-1992. In 1994, a new commercial contract was negotiated between the Education Ministry and the operators. This new contract runs for 4 years starting on 1 November 1994. Partly starting on 1 November 1994. Partly influenced by research findings from previous studies, both sides have agreed to introduce restrictions on the validity of the OV-S (New Style) to minimize costs. Students have to choose between a Weekday Pass or a Weekend Pass. The paper provides relevant background information and gives the raison d'etre for making changes to the form of the student pass and in the research method. It also presents the findings related to changes in car and bicycle ownerships, choice of travel modes for different journey purposes and public transport usage at different time periods. Observations regarding differential travel behaviours between holders of Weekday and Weekend Passes are discussed in the paper. This abstract only is published in the seminar proceedings.
Samenvatting