Architecture for robust network design

The road network in the Netherlands and in many other countries is becoming more and more vulnerable. Small disturbances can cause major disruptions on large parts of the network. The costs of this vulnerability can add up to several billions of Euros in the future. In this paper we present a new network design methodology (architecture) which focuses on improving the robustness and therewith reducing the vulnerability of a road network. The architecture for robust network design consists of the following components: • a specification of the design standards, • a functional analysis of the road network, • a design process, integrating network design and (future) spatial plans • a test of the quality of the robust road network design. The architecture can be used to design a robust road network for any area. To demonstrate how the architecture can be deployed we have, in this paper, worked out the various steps in detail for the network of the area The Hague – Rotterdam in the Netherlands for the year 2020. A comparison of the new robust network design with the policy network of 2020 shows that in general the robust network performs better, both in the situation with and without disturbances. The total travel time is 2.3% lower, the total distance travelled is 0.8% lower and the average network speed is 1.6% higher. Furthermore, the average number of vehicle loss hours in the case of accidents is 30% lower. Therefore, it is concluded that the presented architecture for robust network design allows us to improve the robustness of a road network significantly.