Complaints about Flextrafik at the South Jutland transport company Sydtrafik more than doubled from 2024 to 2025, and the company now backs calls for stricter requirements for operators entering the market.
The figures were released through a freedom-of-information request obtained by JydskeVestkysten, published by Avisen Danmark on Friday. Sydtrafik registered 237 complaints in 2024 on 778,653 Flextrafik trips, rising to 544 complaints in 2025 even as the number of trips fell to 738,609.
The trend continues into 2026. Up to August 5 this year, Sydtrafik had received 271 complaints on 445,183 completed trips. Sydtrafik director Michael Aagaard acknowledges the increase, but notes that complaints still amount to less than one per thousand trips.
According to the documents obtained by JydskeVestkysten, several complaints concern driver behavior and mobile phone use behind the wheel. One customer described a driver whose phone use appeared to affect concentration on the road. A wheelchair user reported a driver focused on a phone mounted in the windshield rather than the road.
The outlet has previously reported similar findings. A freedom-of-information request at Sydtrafik in 2021 also uncovered complaints about drivers using handheld phones while driving. In one of those cases, a passenger and a companion said they feared for their lives on a trip home from Vejle Hospital.
National investigation and industry demands
The local figures land alongside a national investigation. DR’s consumer program Kontant obtained complaint records from traffic companies across Denmark for the program “Flextrafik på slingrekurs”. DR showed examples of drivers watching television while transporting passengers, and reported cases where citizens were injured after problems with securing and seatbelts.
Per DR, the industry organization Dansk Persontransport and Trafikselskaberne i Danmark believe the requirements should be tightened. Trafikselskaberne wants a basic operator training course reinstated as a condition for bidding on Flextrafik contracts. Other proposals include cameras in all vehicles and a registration system giving authorities better oversight.
Aagaard says Sydtrafik is fully in line with the rest of the sector on stricter entry requirements. He points out that Sydtrafik can control quality and enforce its own contract terms, but does not decide who is granted permission to enter the market in the first place.
Transport Minister Signe Munk of SF has told DR’s Kontant that she is willing to examine whether the rules can be tightened. According to DR, she also stresses that the traffic companies themselves carry responsibility, and must use existing rules to ensure operators meet basic standards of proper business conduct.
Aagaard says every complaint is followed up with the operator and the driver involved. He adds that there is no set number of acceptable complaints, while noting that customer satisfaction remains high and that the large majority of Flextrafik journeys run without problems.
