This study uses data taken from the Dutch National Mobility Panel in order to analyse "simple" and "complex commuting traffic chains" in the Netherlands, in the 1984-1989 period. The daily pattern of travelling from home to work, and vice versa, can be considered as a "simple commuting traffic chain". Complexity refers in this context to the combination of daily commuting with trips made for other reasons, for example: doing shopping after the end of a working day. The most important results of the study are as follows: (1) About 75% of all the daily commuting trips were not combined with travelling made for other purposes; (2) Most people did not have a fixed pattern in commuting traffic five days a week; (3) Although in the given period no increases were found in the combination of commuting travelling with trips made for other purposes, it is likely that more people will travel in this way; and (4) this combination was responsible for an increase in car use.
Samenvatting