Evaluation of a Stimulation Plan for municipalities in The Netherlands.

The topic of this paper is the evaluation of the Stimulation Plan ""Actie -25%"" for municipalities in the Netherlands. The SWOV Institute for Road Safety Research was assigned to conduct the evaluation study. Two central questions were at issue: (1) Did ""Actie -25%"", for instance did the extra (municipal) activities resulting from ""Actie -25%"", lead to fewer road accident casualties?; and (2) in which ways did the organisation of ""Actie -25%"" lead to extra (municipal) activities? Can one expect changes in organisation and implementation to lead to increased or better participation of municipalities? Two surveys were conducted amongst all Dutch municipalities to examine their reaction to the various parts of the Plan. A case-evaluation of ten municipalities was conducted to examine whether in fact road safety policy had intensified and improved. An accident study was carried out to assess whether the Plan intervention can be traced to the accident pattern. When considering the results of the Plan in the light of 'more and better policy', it may be concluded that: (1) almost all municipalities in the Netherlands paid extra attention to road safety; (2) they were very keen to conduct more and better policy; (3) a limited number of Dutch municipalities have created conditions for more and better policy (safety plans, appointment of coordinators); and (4) road safety policy has been given a financial shot in the arm. All money made available was spent on road safety and municipalities have also added their own funds. But the study has taken place too soon to arrive at any definitive judgement on the effectivity of the Plan in terms of structural improvements of road safety policy in Dutch municipalities and in terms of reduction in casualties. The evaluation study results indicated, however, that a Stimulation Plan is very promising and should be continued, albeit in a different form.