Witkar

[citation needed] It is the invention of Dutch social inventor and politician Luud Schimmelpennink, an industrial designer and at the time Amsterdam city councillor.

While it provided daily service for more than 4,000 registered users over those years, the project never got beyond the limited demonstration phase due to a lack of support by government.

[citation needed] The system was initially conceived in 1969 by Schimmelpennink in order to reduce traffic in central Amsterdam, but it failed to win the support of the City Council and was spun off to be developed by a specially formed co-operative society.

[1] The original system was designed for fully automatic control, including direct debit of hirers' accounts at the Amsterdam Savings Bank.

On April 3, 2017, the 82-years old Luud Schimmelpennink received the ‘Frans Banninck Cocq’ medal from the alderman of transportation in Amsterdam, Pieter Litjens.

Transport minister Irene Vorrink and alderman Brautigam make the first trip in a Witkar on the Prinsengracht in Amsterdam on 21 March 1974.
Witkar in Amsterdam Museum
Minister Vorrink and Luud Schimmelpennink at the opening of the first Witkar station on the Amstelveld in Amsterdam on 21 March 1974.