In the Dutch city of Eindhoven, spatial planning and seeking solutions to the growth of car usage among inhabitants of new living areas are merged. In 2004, the public transport system will be ready for usage in Meerhoven, a new surburban area located west of the Eindhoven city center. At this moment, there are not many possibilities for reachting this area, besides car, bicycle and a bus that only rides on request. A `mobility market' will be introduced in order to give the Meerhoven inhabitants other alternatives besides the car and bicycle, and to encourage them not to get fully dependent of a car. This `mobility market' will offer all kinds of transport modes that should be competitive with the private car by being fast, easy to access, cheap and causing less pollution. The `mobility market' will fulfill 4 functions: the helpdesk, the mediator, the transport service, and the investigator. It is important to offer a set of product that satisfies each Meerhoven individual in order to get sufficient support from the inhabitants for this project. The inhabitants admit that they feel sceptic about the success of the 'mobility market'. That is why the (first) experiences with this have to be thoroughly prepared. In the first phase of the project, communication will be the main task. Pull measurements are the key to get people to the `mobility market'. At this moment, the main goal of the project is to prevent inhabitants from buying a second car. In future, when the `mobility market' has become a well known service within the area, it can also prevent the usage of the first car. (A)
Abstract