Innovative solutions to Dutch traffic jams
· By: Drivers.com staff
· Date: 2007-08-03
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The Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers has written to Deputy Finance Minister Jan Kees de Jager calling on him to implement policies to "reward home workers with an anti-traffic jam bonus", according to Radio Netherlands.
The organisation wants home workers to be compensated for costs of home-working such as light, energy and the cost of setting up an office in their homes. This, the Confederation says, will reduce traffic congestion and promote economic growth.
Another potential solution being welcomed is the introduction of "tuk tuk" taxis.
The three-wheeled motorised rickshaws arrived in the Netherlands from Asia last year and won the 2006 Mobility Prize, an award given to the best solution for the traffic jam problem.
Regular taxi drivers are not pleased with the idea, arguing that they have to pay for a taxi licence, a meter and insurance, while tuk tuk drivers don't. It's unfair competition, the Dutch cabbies say, particulary since some of the tuk tuks are sponsored by a biscuit company.
The taxi drivers arguments have recently been tainted by a scandal involving some drivers "fiddling with meters" to avoid paying taxes and complying with mandatory health and safety regulations covering rest periods.
Compiled from a Radio Netherlands report
http://www.radionetherlands.nl/pr/pr070712
