THE DUTCH METROPOLITAN AREAS AND THEIR EXTERNAL JOURNEYS: UPDATE OF AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION AND COMPARISON 1982-1988

In an earlier investigation the travel patterns of four Dutch metropolitan areas: Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht, were analysed with emphasis on the importance of the so-called external journeys (See IRRD 293884). This study was based on 1982 data from the National Travel Survey (NTS) and various traffic counts. In order to analyse the developments in these travel patterns since then, the study was repeated for more recent data from 1988. As far as possible the analysis was carried out in an identical way. It should be noted however that unfortunately the National Travel Survey has been changed in some respects. In order to preserve comparability to a maximum extent some corrections on the raw data have been made. It could not be avoided that developments observed are partially influenced by this change in observation method. Between 1982 and 1988 total number of trips to, from and within the four urban areas increased by about 10% whereas total number of kilometers travelled grew by 19%. These figures are based on the NTS. In general changes in the aggregate travel pattern are not large. The majority of the trips are still internal within the central city and within the suburbs. Analysing shifts in greater detail it can be seen that there is a considerable growth in the number of non-home based trips. The inhabitants of the suburban ring have a marked share in this growth. If modes are considerd separately developments are different for different relations. The number of train trips increased strongly for longer distances, i.e. trips to and from outside areas, whereas the number of bus, tramway and underground trips on the other hand increased between the central city and the suburban ring. The growing competitive position of the car is reflected by the increased numbers of car trips on all relations.Except for short trips, the role of the bike is decreasing. The significance of external trips for the four metropolitan areas is much greater in terms of total distance travelled than in numbers of trips. A revised estimation method shows that in 1988 about 60% of total distance travelled by car within the central cities stems from so called external trips with origin or destination outside these cities. (Author/TRRL)