The present paper addresses two main questions. The first is to what degree the basic monocentric model, analysed mainly for the urban systems of the United States, explains actual commuting behaviour in an European country. Is here also a difference between the distance calculated on the propositions of the basic model and the actual commuting distances ? This is the question after the extent of wastefulness of commuting. If this difference is large, commuting behaviour does not fit the assumptions of the model. The second main question is whether, in case much excess commuting exists, the basic model can be adapted to actual behaviour. In this the paper analyses two alternatives (see also Yinger 1992; Henderson & S lade 1993). The first of these starts from a deconcentrated pattern of employment. When jobs are decentralized, a reduction of the total of commuter distances covered may be achieved. The supposition of complete concentration of employment is dropped to some extent and is concerned with a more equal distribution of employment over the urban region. This within the assumption of the maximization of utility given the budget limits. Also, the supposition of an exponential reduction in employment density with increasing distance from the urban centre still holds. According to this decentralized model the place of work is between the home and the old urban regional centre. So there is commuter traffic in the direction of the city centre. The second alternative starts from a polynodal urban system in which multifarious oriented traffic pattern exists. In this cross-traffic model, deconcentration is even stronger. It is not just that the work sites are more equally distributed over the urban region but the direction of commuter traffic too, is no longer oriented towards the centre of the urban region or towards work sites in the direction of the centre. Also, the supposition of the exponential reduction of employment density as the distance to urban regional centre increases, is abandoned. Instead employees concentrate on jobs in the immediate surroundings of their residential location. The structure of this paper is as follows: first it concentrates on the data and the territorial division used. Next, the three theoretical models are elaborated: the basic model starting from the concentration of employment, the model considering deconcentrated employment and the cross-traffic model. Then the models are compared with the actual commuter behaviour in four large urban regions within the Randstad of the Netherlands: the urban regions of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, and Utrecht (see Dieleman & Musterd 1992). Finally, the results will be evaluated. Answers are given to the questions whether the basic model is still topical and, if not, if it can be adapted in such a way that it fits actual commuting. (A)
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