Last year the economic crisis had various effects on traffic and transport in the Netherlands. Owing to the influence of international developments, the crisis profoundly affected the freight transport and aviation sectors. Traffic volumes and rates of public transport use were however largely unaffected by the crisis, although, in contrast, the crisis had a considerable impact on traffic jams and traffic congestion levels. These repercussions serve to deepen our understanding of mobility and the factors that influence mobility. The economic downturn did however also have positive effects: in addition to lower traffic volumes and congestion levels, CO2 emmissions also decreased. Total mobility rates stabilized and the amount of traffic on the Netherlands’ main motorways decreased by only 1% in 2009. Nevertheless, car drivers experienced as much as 10% less inconvenience due to delays caused by traffic jams and congestion. The total number of train passengers did not decrease in the past year. Freight transport experienced an unprecedented 12% decrease. The aviation sector also experienced a severe downturn. The total number of passenger movements via Amsterdam Airport Schiphol dropped by 8% in 2009. Rates of passenger movements did however continue to increase at the Netherland’s regional airports. Owing to the economic crisis, CO2 emissions deriving from road traffic fell by 4%. (Author/publisher)
Abstract