The `Ringlijn Amsterdam' is a metro connection between the Isolatorweg and Gein, which connects the different economic concentrations and living areas on the urban fringe. This connects well with national and local policy goals. The government wants to reduce the share of car usage in overall transportation in order to improve the `livability' of cities. Spatial policy in Holland attempts to further develop peripheral urban centres in the vicinity of public transport junctions as economic concentrations. In 1997, the `Ringlijn' was put into use. In this paper, the results of an evaluation of the `Ringlijn' in Amsterdam are described. The evaluation is based on results of a survey conducted before the `Ringlijn' was in use, and of a survey held one year after it started to function. The different user categories of the `Ringlijn' were interviewed. Model results and data from counts of the municipal transport company (GVB) were added. The `Ringlijn' transports 70,000 people every day, and can therefore be seen as a success. Commuters are the biggest user group, followed by pupils of the various schools near the `Ringlijn' stations. The highest number of `Ringlijn' users have an origin or final destination inside the area close to the `Ringlijn'. Only among the subcategory of `employed', the `Ringlijn' proved to be an alternative to the car. Among all other user subcategories, the `Ringlijn' caused a shift inside the public transport system. Especially the bus lost many passengers to the `Ringlijn'. It is expected that in the future the `Ringlijn' will attract many more users, because the number of functions situated near the `Ringlijn' will grow remarkably. (A)
Abstract