OV chipkaart

2 November 2014 public transport, ov chipkaart, netherlands

With the recent revelation that the OV Chipkaart (an RFID pass used in all public transport in the Netherlands) is grossly over budget, used, with intent, as a extra source of income, cumbersome to use and the Dutch Lower House seeking to replace the system, I thought I’d post the following article. It’s about how this system was never intended to make travel easier, it was intended to increase revenue for the transport companies. Regular users of public transport may benefit, but irregular users are paying more for a worse experience, representing an incentive away from public transport instead of towards.

Here the article. I used to joke that this system was more about automated accounting than an improved travel experience. Turns out I was right.