Amsterdam: Cruise tax hike can cover free public transport for children & teacher grants

Children from 4 to 11 years of age could soon ride public transport services in Amsterdam for free on a more permanent basis. The city’s governing coalition parties, PvdA, D66, and GroenLinks, have made extra money available to cover the program in the Amsterdam budget. Additionally, teachers may also be able to receive an allowance to be spent on professional development, the parties said.

The budget will be discussed in the City Council on Wednesday, and the plans are expected to be brought to a vote on Thursday. Because the three coalition parties have a majority in the Council, there is also expected to be a majority in favor of the plans.

The money for free public transport and the teacher grants will be made available by increasing the cruise tax even beyond what was previously planned. The tax would increase from 8 euros to 11 euros, but the PvdA, D66 and GroenLinks politicians believe that can be further increased to 14 euros per passenger. The entertainment fee, a tax paid by event attendees where more than 500 visitors are expected, will also increase by 50 cents.

The PvdA proposed making free public transport for children, which had already been introduced in recent months, a structural part of the budget starting next year. Thousands of children have already taken advantage of this temporary promotion, which will run until the end of November. According to local party leader Lian Heinhuis, a “whole new generation” can become acquainted with “public transport, the city and each other.”

D66 also wants the Amsterdam teacher grants to return in order to “improve the quality of education by professionalizing the teaching profession and making it more attractive.” The current education alderman, Marjolein Moorman, ended the grant in 2019, partly because the Court of Audit determined it was ineffective.