While NL is way ahead of most countries when it comes to non-car transportation, I highly doubt that statement. Unless, of course, we’re talking everyone else’s car and not mine.
As a Dutchie, I can attest to this. Most people I know are VERY much reliant on their cars and would rather die than give them up. Our non-car transportation is okay outside of the the big cities (where trams pick up a lot of the slack), as long as you go to another bigger city / town. Once you want to go somewhere outside of that, the cost and travel-time racks up quickly. Also, companies and governments are very much supporting car ownership.
A personal example: I travel to work by car (it's around 80 km door to door). I know, wrong community to admit something like this but I have a very simple reason for it: I get paid more to do so and it's faster. Going by car means I get to work in just under an hour. If I try to do the same thing using public transport, it will take me an hour and 45 minutes.
I get compensated €0,25 per km of driving. My car is quite fuel efficient (a Toyota corolla hybrid which uses around 4 l of fuel per 100 km) which means this easily covers my fuel (and most other expenses that come with driving my car). So when I take the car, I end up getting paid more salary each month.
If I take public transport, my work covers this for me. A one-way trip door to door would cost around €22,00 so that's €44,00 round-trip. It's great that they do this but it doesn't benefit me to do so. I don't get extra salary and spend more time traveling, for which I am not reimbursed. Therefore, I end up driving instead.
And like I said, the "amazing public transport" you see represented online is usually only the big cities. Outside of those we heavily rely on our trains and buses, which aren't anything to boast about. I've taken the train in other European countries and had very similar experiences for a much lower price. On top of that, if you live in a town that doesn't have a train station, you're dependent on taking a bus from that town to a bigger town with a train station in order to get anywhere. And once you need to start doing that you're going to have a really rough time getting anywhere without a car.
In The Netherlands, just like everywhere else, the people who live in densely populated areas subsidize those who live in remote areas, and everybody subsidizes those who drive, both with the cost of car-centric infrastructure, and the externalized costs of destroying the planet. At least here in The Netherlands, most people have the option to live somewhere with good public transit.
Why don't you move closer to where you work?
Yes, NS is kind of expensive, but it could get more subsidies if we offered less subsidies to the drivers.
I live in a bigger (left-leaning) city with good connections elsewhere through our train station. Our local public transport isn't great, we just have buses. I wish our municipality would explore other transport options as well but they don't seem eager to do so. I live fairly close to the train station but that doesn't change the fact that the different in travel time is so significant.
I'm not going to move for this job, I've never moved for my job since jobs come and go. I search for them in a specific radius from my house and my current job was definitely on the edge of what I feel comfortable with. That all aside though, moving there (Utrecht area) is basically impossible with how expensive housing is nowadays.
I fully agree there should be less subsidies for driving and more for public transport. I understand being able to drive is a privilege and if public transport felt like a solid alternative I would use it more often. I like being in the train, it's quite relaxing. I was just trying to highlight that the Netherlands isn't perfect either and that people sometimes idealize our public transport and infrastructure.
5 replies
While NL is way ahead of most countries when it comes to non-car transportation, I highly doubt that statement. Unless, of course, we’re talking everyone else’s car and not mine.
As a Dutchie, I can attest to this. Most people I know are VERY much reliant on their cars and would rather die than give them up. Our non-car transportation is okay outside of the the big cities (where trams pick up a lot of the slack), as long as you go to another bigger city / town. Once you want to go somewhere outside of that, the cost and travel-time racks up quickly. Also, companies and governments are very much supporting car ownership.
A personal example: I travel to work by car (it's around 80 km door to door). I know, wrong community to admit something like this but I have a very simple reason for it: I get paid more to do so and it's faster. Going by car means I get to work in just under an hour. If I try to do the same thing using public transport, it will take me an hour and 45 minutes.
I get compensated €0,25 per km of driving. My car is quite fuel efficient (a Toyota corolla hybrid which uses around 4 l of fuel per 100 km) which means this easily covers my fuel (and most other expenses that come with driving my car). So when I take the car, I end up getting paid more salary each month.
If I take public transport, my work covers this for me. A one-way trip door to door would cost around €22,00 so that's €44,00 round-trip. It's great that they do this but it doesn't benefit me to do so. I don't get extra salary and spend more time traveling, for which I am not reimbursed. Therefore, I end up driving instead.
And like I said, the "amazing public transport" you see represented online is usually only the big cities. Outside of those we heavily rely on our trains and buses, which aren't anything to boast about. I've taken the train in other European countries and had very similar experiences for a much lower price. On top of that, if you live in a town that doesn't have a train station, you're dependent on taking a bus from that town to a bigger town with a train station in order to get anywhere. And once you need to start doing that you're going to have a really rough time getting anywhere without a car.
In The Netherlands, just like everywhere else, the people who live in densely populated areas subsidize those who live in remote areas, and everybody subsidizes those who drive, both with the cost of car-centric infrastructure, and the externalized costs of destroying the planet. At least here in The Netherlands, most people have the option to live somewhere with good public transit.
Why don't you move closer to where you work?
Yes, NS is kind of expensive, but it could get more subsidies if we offered less subsidies to the drivers.
I live in a bigger (left-leaning) city with good connections elsewhere through our train station. Our local public transport isn't great, we just have buses. I wish our municipality would explore other transport options as well but they don't seem eager to do so. I live fairly close to the train station but that doesn't change the fact that the different in travel time is so significant.
I'm not going to move for this job, I've never moved for my job since jobs come and go. I search for them in a specific radius from my house and my current job was definitely on the edge of what I feel comfortable with. That all aside though, moving there (Utrecht area) is basically impossible with how expensive housing is nowadays.
I fully agree there should be less subsidies for driving and more for public transport. I understand being able to drive is a privilege and if public transport felt like a solid alternative I would use it more often. I like being in the train, it's quite relaxing. I was just trying to highlight that the Netherlands isn't perfect either and that people sometimes idealize our public transport and infrastructure.
New Zealand REALLY needs to learn this