A VISION ON TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORT IN 2020

The National Traffic and Transport Plan (in Dutch Nationaal Verkeers- en Vervoersplan, NVVP) was presented by Mrs Tineke Netelenbos - Minister of Transport, Public Works and Water Management - on 16 October 2000. The plan means a shift from the 1980s and 1990s; in those two decades policy and action were based on the assumption that it is feasible and imperative for government to regulate the volume and direction of transport flows. The new approach accepts mobility as self-evident in today's world. At the same time, the plan notes that without policy-tuning road traffic and transport face congestion and resulting serious delays in 2020. Moreover, unless measures are put in place, we will also see a halt in safety-related improvements and in enhanced quality of life. To this end the newly formulated policy outlines a new perspective for traffic, transport and related infrastructure in the Netherlands up to the year 2020. This is the NVVP. Actions to ensure the accessibility of the country's main urban conurbation comprising Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam and Utrecht - known as the Randstad - are set out in the Randstad Accessibility Offensive. The policy proposals set out in the NVVP are currently undergoing in-depth scrutiny and processing, with input from the general public and community bodies. Only when this is complete will the government make its position known at May 2001, after which parliament will debate the issues, probably around the second half of 2001. In turn, this will result in legislation setting out the main points of the policy. To ensure that the policy is not overly rigid or static, in the next several years the NVVP will feature dynamic, flexible components adjustable in line with changing circumstances. The flexibility is embodied in the Dutch government's policy agenda; this includes several aspects of major international concern. The brief summary here has been designed to put the new vision on mobility and transport into a clear perspective. For the covering abstract see ITRD E115303.