Following remarkable growth in the 1980s and 1990s, the total amount of national mobility of people in the Netherlands has not increased since 2005. This particularly applies to car use. Except for the credit crisis, the reasons for this remain unclear. Traffic congestion levels on the main road network increased in 2010 due the economic recovery. In 2011, however congestion levels decreased, partly as a result of road capacity enlargements. In contrast to the first few years of the 21st century, it appears that in recent years the relationship between traffic volumes and traffic congestion is no longer stable. Consequently, there is no simple rule of thumb that can be used for predicting traffic congestion levels. Train use is still increasing, but less pronounced than a few years ago. Air travel gets a boost again, but not to the level seen prior to the credit crisis. Regional airports in particular attract more passengers. Freight transport, and especially sea transport, recover from the credit crisis through a revival of world trade. The number of traffic fatalities fell in 2010, although the number of serious injuries rose, especially among bicyclists. CO2 emissions over the past 10 years increased at a slower rate than traffic volumes. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting