In this report, objective and subjective indicators were recorded for groups of large cities. This involved a total of forty cities, the largest 30 (G30) and ten others. The accessibility of individual cities was also compared. To this end, the forty cities were divided into five more or less comparable groups.

Extensive data were recorded in tabular form for each city in the Urban Accessibility Monitoring tables. In determining the objective indicators, OVG data covering the years from 1996 to 2003 and MON data for the year 2004 were used. MON stands for Mobility Research in the Netherlands, the successor to the OVG. For the subjective indicators, the data from a study carried out in 2004 specifically for this purpose was used to supplement the MON data.
What is the accessibility of the large cities according to the objective and subjective indicators?

The data indicates that travelling time has remained reasonably stable over the years. This holds true for travel by car, bicycle and public transport (OV). There is also still little difference in the travelling times during rush hour and during off-peak periods. Over the years, the cities within the Randstad conurbation have, with regard to travelling time, become slightly less easily accessible by car than the cities outside of the Randstad conurbation. The centres of the four largest cities (G4), based on the travelling time, are better accessible by public transport than by car when compared with the total urban area of the G4.

Based on this data, no clear relationship can be derived between the average travelling time and the opinion of the citizens with regard to accessibility. This is especially true for bicycle journeys. For journeys by car and, to a lesser extent, by public transport, some correlation between the objective and subjective indicators is apparent.

The Dutch Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management
http://www.verkeerenwaterstaat.nl/?lc=uk&page=55

01/08/2005

M. van der Wel

research

Urban Policy > Transport and infrastructure > Roads and road transport

Traffic management