OV Smartcard

Sometimes, it seems that technologies are forced in the Netherlands. However, it is said that technology is necessary nowadays, because it is growing and companies cannot live without information systems. There actually is an example of a technology inserted last year, that causes a large number of problems: the OV Smartcard. This technology includes a smartcard which can be used during travelling with the public transport. For instance, a train or bus belongs to the public transport. Before this card was introduced in the Netherlands, especially students and sometimes also other people were allowed to travel by train with a normal card or they had to buy a ticket. Now the government has decided that travelling has to be digitized. Before entering the train, bus or subway people have to check in by scanning their card on a sign. This sign can be found next to the gateway. When they leave the transport, they also have to check out. In this way, people have paid automaticly because earlier, they put a sum on their card.

The system is maintained for three months now and still gives a large number of problems. For instance, people forget to check out, the card does not work, in the train you still cannot pay with the OV Smartcard in rate times. Therefore, the government have to ask itself whether the technology is effective and necessary. Before intruducing the system there were less problems than nowadays. Why was there a conversion for the public transport as there were no complainings? Why does the public transport has to be completed with anothe complicated technology? We have to keep these questions in mind if we want to keep the control over the technologies and not vice versa.