3 Months Gratis Public Transport!

I just knew it. When I received the letter from Rijkwaterstaat, the government agency responsible for the road infrastructure of the country, including dikes and waterways, I knew it would be the letter offering me free public transport.

The agency has been busy with one of their big projects in the country, the expansion of the A2, one of the oldest, busiest, and very important highway in the Netherlands, which unfortunately is the same highway I drive to work daily.

The letter is an invitation to the new program called – A2 Minder Hinder, which is a 3 Months free public transport invitation (a combi of train, tram, and bus with the A2 Minder Hinder Proefpas) to car owners using the A2 highway during rush hours with the goal of easing traffic while ongoing highway expansion works are being carried out. In lieu of traveling with the car to the workplace during rush hours, a free transportation card will be given valid for 3 months traveling to and fro home and work, however special conditions apply of course to make sure freeloaders do not have a chance.

Rush hours are usually between 07:15 to 08:45. It usually takes me 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes to get to work. However, this was my schedule with my previous employer where we were expected to be in the office at 09:00 sharp. With my new employer, we have flexi-time implemented, meaning we can come in on or before 10:00 as long as we make our 8 hours a day work schedule.

So now I usually leave home between 08:45 to 09:10 (this is such a huge sigh of relief as I always have problems waking up early!) which gets me to work between 09:20 to 09:40, and take note, this is even farther than my previous employer (well 5 kilometers only, he-he).

At any rate, I did a quick calculation. A monthly train-tram-bus card for me – Utrecht to Amsterdam would be around +-€200. Now, lets try multiplying this to tens, maybe hundreds of car owners who would be willing to take the Rijkwaterstaats program and this clearly translates to lots of serious €€€. Big budget I reckon.

I’ve been thinking about the offer but I might have to turn this down even if it meant savings on benzene which is ridiculously high in NL, as well as savings on car wear and tear. Let us put this in another way -- I prefer convenience.