Ruling MPs: More experiments with alternative taxi apps possible

State Secretary Wilma Mansveld of Infrastructure and the Environment should do more to encourage local experimentation with taxi apps. This is according to D66 parliamentarian Stientje van Veldhoven and PvdA parlimamentarian Duco Hoogland in a debate about the taxi market on Thursday. The discussion centered on Mansveld's plans for the taxi industry that she presented earlier this month. Mansveld plans to ease the rules on taxis in general, remove unnecessary regulations and encourage innovation in the taxi industry, to make it easier for new providers to enter the market, Despite all this, UberPop, a taxi service in which individuals use their own cars to transport passengers at a fraction of the price of a normal taxi, remains illegal. Mansveld also plans on experimenting to improve the combination of public transport, bicycle and taxi in sparsely populated regions. The D66 and PvdA, think that this current plan does not leave enough space for innovative experiments. According to NU, a majority in the Tweede Kamer, lower house of parliament, think Mansveld should focus on more than just the rural areas. Mansveld promised that she would talk to the provinces on more experiments with taxi services. "Experiments in large cities are a possibility, but only when the aim of the experiment is clear. We're not going to do any experiments to evade the law." Mansveld said, indicating that she remains firm on the ban on Uberpop.