Public transit violence down with OV chip card

Research by Trouw shows that safety on public transport has become safer after the introduction of the OV chip card in 2009, Het Parool reports. According to the magazine, the reason for the drop in incidents on public transport is because there are less people traveling without tickets, as most aggression comes from travelers with no permit who get busted. The metro in Amsterdam had only 2.5 percent 'illegal' travelers in 2013, compared to 13 percent in 2009. In Rotterdam, across all public transport,t hat percentage went down to 1.6 from 13.1, and in The Hague from 9.1 to 3 percent. In these cities, it is much more difficult to get into stations without proof of transport, as the gates are now shut. This is why these three cities show the most improvement.