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How feasible are public transport driving times, really?

by | Jul 4, 2025 | Geen categorie

There’s a lot of talk about the reliability of public transport in the Netherlands. Usually, it’s about figures like punctuality and trip cancellations. Interesting, but what about the feasibility of the planned driving times themselves? Because that’s what passengers actually experience every day, especially on the busy corridors between public transport hubs.

Time to put our new OVContext software to work. One goal: pinpoint where things go wrong so operators can make targeted improvements. At the same time, it was a perfect test case to calculate “all of regional public transport in the Netherlands” in one go.

What did we find?

Looking at the bigger picture, my colleagues and I were honestly a bit shocked: for over 1 in 4 measurements between hubs, the planned driving time is structurally too little or too much. This isn’t a small detail, as more passengers will choose public transport if reliability improves from their perspective.

The underlying causes? We were already familiar with most of them (and will cover them extensively in the report). One concession, however, stood out positively: Almere. Once again proving how crucial dedicated bus lanes are for improving reliability.

How did we approach this?

From a distance, it looks simple—and actually, it is:

1. We selected a reporting period,
2. Loaded the relevant timetables,
3. Matched them with real-time arrival and departure data,
4. Analysed punctuality and driving times by day and category,
5. Defined the hubs,
6. Generated combined punctuality and driving time analyses at line and concession level,
7. Checked the data quality,
8. And wrote the report.

In the report, we delve into each step: from data quality (which operator still struggles with daylight saving time?) to the functional choices made during the analysis and the OVContext tools we used. You will also see what the results mean at line level, and what you as an operator can do to improve reliability.

Coming soon

Our report, “Feasibility of Public Transport Driving Times”, is currently in its final stages and will soon be available for download. Want to be among the first to know when it goes online? Let us know, and we’ll email you as soon as it’s available.

Additionally, we will offer detailed analyses per concession for operators wanting to tackle the improvement areas themselves. When purchased, we will review the results with your team, ensuring insights are directly translated into action on the ground and lead to greater reliability for your passengers.

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