Trial for children to use public transport for free in The Hague to start next month

Children in The Hague will be able to travel on public transport for free from next month. This trial was meant to start last summer but will now begin at the end of March. The experiment will be extended from the end of this year to the end of next year.

The municipality of The Hague had announced almost a year ago that children from the ages of 4 to 11 would be able to use public transport for free. This was decided in order to ensure that their parents would take the bus or tram more often when going out. It is also meant to stimulate people to take public transport more often later in life.

Parents have to buy a personal OV chipcard for their children in order for them to travel for free. They can arrange that via the DigiD website, but the development of the platform for this took longer than initially planned. In addition, it cost more time than expected to supply the chip cards, which has caused this delay.

The scheme may be used permanently from 2026 if the trial turns out to be a success. The Hague will also compensate the parents for the costs of buying a personal OV chip card for their children.

In Amsterdam, children from the ages of 4 to 11 have to travel by bus, tram, or subway for free until January 2027. A similar trial has been ongoing in Rotterdam, which ensured that children up to 12 can travel with public transport for free. Children younger than 12 can travel for free in Noord-Brabant if they are traveling with a paying passenger.