In this paper we analyse the accessibility impacts of three different road pricing schemes for the Netherlands. How road use, travel times, accessibility and regional economic development will be influenced is analysed. Aflat kilometre charge, a congestion charge on heavily used links during peak hours, and a congestion charge combined with additional infrastructurewere compared. Social and recreational travel and commuting are reduced by road pricing but business travel and freight transport benefit. There will be some overflow towards public transport but the main impact is a change of trip length. The impact differs between road pricing scheme, period and congestion level. On busy roads the impact of the flat charge is limited because a reduction of congestion attracts new traffic. It reduces roaduse most on non busy roads. The congestion charge has, because it is onlyused on busy roads during peak hours, a smaller impact on total car use but reduces congestion much more. The rerouting towards uncharged roads is limited. The changes in travel times and travel costs changes the generalised costs and thereby the economic accessibility. This accessibility is measured as the number of destinations that can be reached within acceptablegeneralized cost range. The impact is positive when the reduction of travel time is valued higher than the increased travel costs. It is shown how the impact differs for different trip purposes, groups, regions and type of locations. The impact on regional economic development is also assessed.For the covering abstract see ITRD E137145.
Abstract