Skip to main content

Netherlands reduces road congestion by 30% in Q1 2012

According to Dutch automotive association and tourism group ANWB, there was an estimated 30 per cent year-on-year decrease in the number of traffic jams in the Netherlands in the first quarter of 2012. This comes as the Rijkswaterstaat, the Dutch department for infrastructure maintenance, invested more in the construction of new motorway lanes in recent years. The A2 motorway between Amsterdam and Utrecht has been expanded to ten lanes, and this reduced congestion by 25 per cent alone in 2011. In the short
April 4, 2012 Read time: 1 min
According to Dutch automotive association and tourism group 481 ANWB, there was an estimated 30 per cent year-on-year decrease in the number of traffic jams in the Netherlands in the first quarter of 2012. This comes as the 4767 Rijkswaterstaat, the Dutch department for infrastructure maintenance, invested more in the construction of new motorway lanes in recent years.

The A2 motorway between Amsterdam and Utrecht has been expanded to ten lanes, and this reduced congestion by 25 per cent alone in 2011. In the short term, the road widening will lead to less congestion. However, in the long term this is expected to change as people adjust to the new travel times. Moreover, people will also opt to live further away from where they work, meaning congestion will inevitably increase once again.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Flir helps Indonesia start tackling congestion
    March 19, 2014
    Indonesia has started tackling acute traffic congestion in Jakarta and Surabaya. When talking about Jakarta, Indonesia’s economic, cultural and political centre, it is very easy to lapse into superlatives. With a population of over 10 million people it is the thirteenth most populated city in the world and the biggest in South East Asia. The official metropolitan area, known as Jabodetabek, is also the second largest in the world. Almost 98% of journeys in Jabodetabek are made by road and the tremendous
  • In-vehicle safety standard released for consultation
    July 24, 2012
    The new ISO 26262 standard for safety-related vehicle systems is now available for comment. MIRA's David Ward talks to ITS International about what the standard will mean for vehicle and road safety in the future. The publication on 8 July this year of ISO 26262 as a Draft International Standard (DIS) marks an important progression for the automotive - and, in time, the cooperative infrastructure - industries. A couple of years from now, automotive OEMs will be able to subscribe to a unifying standard for s
  • Airborne traffic monitoring - the future?
    March 1, 2013
    A new frontier in the quest to monitor road traffic is opening up… but using airborne drones to reduce the jams comes with some thorny issues. Chris Tindall reports. Imagine if you could rely on a system that provided all the data you needed to regulate traffic flow, route vehicles and respond swiftly to emergencies for a fraction of the cost of piloting a helicopter. That system exists, but as engineers and traffic managers start to explore the potential of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) – more commonly k
  • Work starts on more UK smart motorways
    July 9, 2014
    Three new major motorway schemes on the M1 and M3 will cut congestion and give Britain's drivers smoother, quicker journeys, Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin has announced. Construction will now start on the M1 junctions 28-31 in Derbyshire, M1 junctions 32-35a in South Yorkshire and on the M3 at junction 2-4a in Surrey. The new schemes are central to the Government's long term economic plan and part of US$41 billion of investment in the road network by 2021, which will see spending tripled to U