Automatiseringsgids reports that this monday the Ministry of Transport has discussed with local government representatives (provinces and city councils) the extra cost of the contactless chipcard for public transport.
The goal is to know exactly what the expected cost will be for the new system. The Ministry has reserved 90 million euro for the scheme but rumours are that an additional 100-150 million euro is needed as the systems does not appear to function properly.
While in principle the contactless chipcard appears a good idea to the Ministry, the goal is to be able to inform parliament in december about the outlook for the OV-chipcard. As long as the new system is not as good as the current paper-based ticketing system for public transport (strippenkaart), the Minister of Transport does not want to throw away the old system.....
