Dutch cities are under pressure to rethink mobility. From 2025, zero-emission zones will ban polluting vehicles from many urban centres (Kieviet, 2025). This is not just about restricting cars; it’s about finding alternatives that make sustainable travel more convenient. Amersfoort offers a glimpse of how this might look: fewer parking spaces, more paid zones, and subsidies for Check’s shared bikes and scooters (Hardeman, 2025). These measures hint at a larger shift, where governments need to start embracing digital integration if they want carless mobility to become a realistic future.
At present, Check operates as a modular provider: its scooters and bikes are plug-and-play services that complement existing mobility options without dominating them. But government subsidies change this balance. By backing a commercial provider as a semi-public service, municipalities aren’t just supporting scooters; they’re steering mobility toward a digital ecosystem that could redefine how people move through cities.
The challenge is whether the Dutch context can support such integration. In China, super-apps like Ant or WeChat show how payments, shopping, and mobility can be seamlessly integrated. This creates powerful network effects that make private car ownership less necessary. However, in the Netherlands, strict privacy rules (GDPR), fragmented governance, and a strong culture of consumer choice make such centralisation far more difficult. Even the OV-chipkaart, a relatively simple attempt to unify ticketing across public transport, took more than a decade to implement, facing technical challenges and public resistance (Radar, 2024).
This suggests that while local steps like Amersfoort’s subsidy may help, fragmented efforts will not be enough. If the Netherlands truly wants to achieve its zero-emission ambitions, deeper digital integration will be essential, even if it challenges traditions of decentralisation and strict privacy.
Discussion question: Could a Chinese-style mobility ecosystem ever work in the Dutch context, and how would it look?
References
Radar. (2024, November 23). Overstap naar OVpay: waarom de OV-chipkaart nog niet verdwenen is. AVROTROS. https://radar.avrotros.nl/artikel/overstap-naar-ovpay-waarom-de-ov-chipkaart-nog-niet-verdwenen-is-61099
Kieviet, E. (2024, October 5). Kabinet legt zich neer bij de komst van uitstootvrije binnensteden. NOS. https://nos.nl/artikel/2539660-kabinet-legt-zich-neer-bij-de-komst-van-uitstootvrije-binnensteden
