The Hague, Netherlands

In April 2008, the Public Transit Authority for the Haaglanden region of The Netherlands launched a tender for a new concession to operate regional transit services for the communities of The Hague, Delft, Leidschendam-Voorburg, Pijnacker-Nootdorp, Rijswijk, Wassenaar, Westland and Zoetermeer.
The goal was to improve accessibility within the urban area and provide a safe and environmentally friendly public transit system.
In September 2008, Veolia Transport won the 8-year contract to provide this service: the first concession in an urban region of the Netherlands.

During the contract, Veolia Transport has the objective to:

• increase passenger growth by 51% during the contract.
• increase customer satisfaction from 7.2 to 7.8 during the contract.

• With 128 EEV rated biogas buses provided for the concession, Veolia Transport has implemented the biggest fleet of green vehicles in The Netherlands. Nitrogen and soot emissions have been reduced by 90% and the buses are 50% quieter.
• 3 new gas stations were also designed to support clean fuels.

Haaglanden is the first Veolia Transport region in the Netherlands to apply the national smartcard project named Chipcard.

Veolia Transport has supported the implementation of this system as follows:

• Installation of all the relevant hardware, including on-bus card readers, and structuring of the backoffice organization.
• Creation of two new sales points in the region.

• The passenger satisfaction, our priority
  - Deployment of Going for Green, the Veolia Transport exclusive program designed to improve customer relations between employees and passengers.
  - Drivers are ambassadors of our service.
• A participative approach with stakeholders of the region
  - Cooperation and partnership with local companies.
• An ambitious promotional plan targeting car users
  - Introduction of targeted marketing actions combined with free tickets in carefully selected areas to drive modal shift.
  - Creation of a newspaper "Introductionpaper", to highlight our service at the start of our concession to every household in the region.
  - Installation of "Regioboards" and "Newscentres" on highways and in shopping centers to market public transport: these are dynamic spaces that mix commercial messages, content and new promotional channels.
• A Multi channel communication
  - Use of various media, from newspapers to local advertising, TV and radio.
  - Production and publication of a twice-yearly magazine.

• Launch of a new website (www.veolia-transport.nl/)
• Installation of 148 real-time bus stop displays
• Provision of SMS-service at bus stops

• Cameras have been installed in all buses.

Intelligent cooperation with the city operator of The Hague allowed a shared depot and gas station, as well as guaranteed connections between services.

All buses are equipped with a navigation tool that allows safe and easy driving; with this system, drivers are able to operate all bus lines. This is the first time that such a system is used in public transport on such a large scale.

• In vehicle navigation systems reduced training time and increased driver satisfaction.
• Application of the national smartcard project in the network has doubled the number of users: 12 000 validations/month, an increase of 50%.
• Passengers feel'welcome aboard': satisfaction with ours drivers is up.
• New vehicles are popular with passengers and drivers alike due to their design, comfort and user friendly features.