Popularity of ticket machines has increased further The ticket machines in our trams are popular with passengers. Customer satisfaction with how easy it is to buy a ticket has risen sharply. Passengers use this option for topping up their public transport smartcards a great deal. About 130,000 top-up transactions are made in our vehicles every month. Using the ticket machines has just recently been made even easier. Purchases can now be bundled together in a shopping basket so that you can pay for several products in one go.

Bus 28 now also runs in the weekends Bus 28 is no longer just a rush-hour service. Instead, it is a fully-fledged bus route that runs all day between Voorburg station and The Hague Zuiderstrand, via the Vredespaleis, World Forum and Frederik Hendrikplein.

HTM Fiets – from an idea to a genuine product At the end of 2017, people taking part in the HTM panel were invited to come and talk about a new product. The idea of the shared HTM bicycle was put forward there. Now, eighteen months later, the HTM Fiets is a reality. Shortly after the launch, we asked the panel how familiar they were with the HTM Fiets. Over the coming time, familiarity with the HTM Fiets and the service itself will be extended further.

Update on the renovation of the bus platform at The Hague Central Station The construction work on the bus platform at The Hague Central Station is in full swing. A number of platforms are being added, the layout of the platforms will be made clearer and a waved roof will make sure that passengers will always stay dry as they get on and off. The new roof, the waiting room behind the glass front and the new boarding platforms are expected to come into operation at the beginning of November..

Your comments always have an effect. This time, you can hear what the Vehicle Technology department have to say Although we service and maintain the trams and buses frequently and well, things can still break down. To be able to respond to that properly, we really do need the responses of passengers. How does that work in practice? If the comment is about a technical aspect, the report is passed on to the HTM mechanics who are ready and waiting to assess it. This can only be done properly if the notification states the vehicle number. We then know straight away which tram has the problem. The report could be about anything from a broken mirror or a torn seat to a faulty ticket machine. When it is a problem that we can fix, that will be done within 24 hours – sometimes overnight, even. That means that there will be enough trams on the streets every day to run the scheduled services. We never take our foot off the gas in that regard! Unfortunately, problems can also happen that are persistent or not limited to a single vehicle. That was the case with the air conditioning in the Avenio trams this summer, for example. The solution sometimes takes a little longer if a special component is needed. HTM regularly receives reports about public transport smartcard readers not working properly in our buses and in the red-and-beige and RandstadRail trams. This system is ageing and due for replacement. A newer and better card reader is a question of time. To make sure that as many people as possible are able to use the card readers properly, the readers will be given a ‘roadworthiness check’. We do everything we can to get passengers safely, comfortably and on time from the centre of The Hague to Scheveningen... or any of our other great routes.

Tip: if you are going to evaluate a trip after you’ve been invited to, you can simply note down the number and other features of the journey. That way you won’t have to think back to a trip you made earlier. A carriage number consists of 4 digits and it can be seen on both the inside and the outside of the vehicle.

Marije Heerikhuisen HTM Personenvervoer N.V. HTM-panel project manager info@htmpanel.nl

Gideon van der Hulst Citisens B.V. HTM-panel administrator info@htmpanel.nl