Those are good points. Dutch people frequently complain about their public transport, but it works very well in general. I have Day Discount subscription for the trains that costs 5.10 EUR a month and gives 40% discount during off-peak hours, weekend and public holidays. Additionally, up to 3 people traveling with me can get 40% discount too (albeit group tickets would be less expensive in this case). And I think that’s a pretty good discount, considering the overall train prices and service quality. Even with all this discounts I spent over 90 EUR on public transit last month 😂 Free weekends is 31.60 EUR per month.

Fun fact: Dutch students are entitles to a Student Product where they can choose to travel for free during weekdays or weekend on any public transport carrier in the entire country. Technically, EU students are also entitled but it’s a very long process (because they want to make it difficult), which I started three months ago and still know nothing about it. Also, this is not “free”: it’s a gift. If you don’t finish a degree within 10 years, you have to pay everything back and it’s over 300 EUR per month.