Rotterdam angry with transport company for losing children several times

Almost all factions in the Rotterdam City Council said they are angry with transport company Trevvel. There have been various incidents lately in which children who were being transported by Trevvel have gone missing. The political parties are demanding that the transport company show improvements immediately.

"Losing a child is a nightmare for every parent, and it is not the first time that this has happened. We blame Trevvel heavily for this," said GroenLinks City Councilor Mina Morkoç.

DENK councilor Naoufal Akhatab called it a "huge mess." The children were lost for five to ten minutes in each of the cases.

"It is every parent's worst-case scenario to lose a child," said Ronald Buijt, the city alderman for healthcare policy, in response to the criticism. "It is a horrible incident that you would not wish on anyone. I will not attempt to justify anything, but the procedures have now been changed so that this can never happen again." Buijlt blames the transport company for the lack of communication with the parents of the missing children.

There have been one or two similar incidents a year for the last four years, according to Buijt. "People whose children have been lost understandably don't use Trevvel anymore. They receive a kilometer allowance for alternative transport," Buijt promised.

This is not the first time there has been displeasure about Trevvel's services. A debate raged in Rotterdam in 2022 about the company failing to meet performance agreements. That concerned hundreds of children who were not transported to school on time.

The transport company promised improvement after the debate. Buijt claims that the service has improved since then, but recognizes that it is still not at the required level. He told the full City Council that he would discuss the matter with Trevvel.