Dynamic traffic management (DVM) measures are being applied to an increasingly number of motorway locations in the Netherlands, mainly to temporarily increase their capacity. DVM measures have a good price/quality ratio. These measures are cheaper than traditional capacity extensions (more asphalt), and have a positive effect on traffic flow. However, the application of DVM measures to motorways also has a negative effect: road safety is coming under pressure in the meantime by continuously increasing the capacity. Therefore, it is important to have a testing criterion: how far can you go with increasing the capacity? The proper indicators, that should take part of a new testing criterion to be developed, have still to be looked for. A first application of so-called traffic stability indicators shows that much has yet to be done.
Abstract