This paper discusses some possibilities for applying congestion management to enable the Dutch Second Transport Structure Plan (SVV-2) to operate more effectively. One of the Plan's new policy themes is that traffic control should aim to guarantee optimal use of the existing transport infrastructure. Adverse effects on a road network, from bottlenecks and traffic jams, can in principle be limited. They should be prevented from delaying other traffic streams that are not contributing to their formation. Three types of measure have emerged to handle traffic jams: (1) buffer areas or overflow areas, to limit the length of traffic jams; (2) lateral separation, i.e lengthways division of lanes that suffer suffer unnecessary disruptions, to allow unhindered passage to vehicles not having to pass the bottleneck; and (3) flow-metering, to stop traffic that could later hinder other traffic. These measures are examined for a specific example. Measures taken so far confirm the feasibility and success of traffic control on Dutch motorways. It is thus sensible to guarantee the functioning of main motorways as much as possible, and supplement this approach by introducing step by step various measures for limiting car use.
Abstract