Five percent of Qbuzz trips have been canceled recently; way above contractual limit

Approximately 5 percent of Qbuzz's scheduled bus trips in the northern part of Zuid-Holland have been canceled in recent weeks. This is much higher than the contractual obligation of a maximum of 0.2 percent of culpable trip cancellations. The province of Zuid-Holland is contemplating fining Qbuzz for this.

Qbuzz took over bus transport last month for Alphen aan de Rijn, Gouda, Leiden, and Katwijk from Arriva, but the services have been chaotic thus far. Passengers have waited for buses that did not come, or busses have been coming late. There have also been stories of drivers going the wrong way or not knowing the route at all.

Qbuzz expects the service to improve soon. One of the reasons that they expect this is because around 15 extra buses are going to be used in the coming time.

Supply issues from Iveco, who only completed 31 of the 140 electric buses that were ordered on time, forced Qbuzz to find last-minute alternatives like touring cars. Dozens of diesel buses have been driving for Qbuzz temporarily. "Unfortunately, until all buses are there, implementation will be less good."

The transport company has been getting a lot of complaints from customers about buses not appearing on time or at all. “We are using temporary buses which lack IT equipment. This can mean that the real-time travel information in our travel planners is incorrect. We are aware of the impact of this,” said a spokesperson. “We are doing everything we can to solve this as quickly as possible by using new buses.”

Qbuzz hopes to achieve "more reliable bus routes" by adjusting driver schedules. These changes will take effect at the end of January. Until then, some journeys will be canceled on some lines. Qbuzz emphasized that, despite the high failure rate, it offers "considerably more" rides in this area every day than in the previous concession period.