Accessibility indicator: travel speed, 2004-2009

Accessibility indicator

The accessibility indicator described in the National Policy Strategy for Infrastructure and Spatial Planning (SVIR) focuses on the door-to-door as the crow flies travel speed for journeys made to certain areas. The indicator gives an idea and enables comparison of the travel speed for different transport types (car, public transport and possibly bicycle). Where necessary, the individual outcomes, taking into account the specific properties of each transport type, can be used to calculate a single accessibility value for all transport types. In this baseline assessment, the accessibility indicator is calculated based on data from the 2004-2009 Dutch Mobility Survey (MON). The limited size of this dataset means that this baseline assessment is mainly used to give an idea of the travel speed for car traffic. Monitoring based on the accessibility indicator is still under development. This baseline assessment focuses mainly on accessibility by car. From 2014, it will also be possible to draw conclusions regarding accessibility by public transport from the Infrastructure and Spatial Monitor (Monitor Infrastructuur en Ruimte) and the Mobility Review (Mobiliteitsbalans). If possible, this will also be done for the bicycle. An attempt will also be made in the coming years to use measured rather than reported speeds.
Direct as the crow flies travel speeds differ greatly between transport types and on the distance travelled. The direct travel speed is lower for short distances than for longer distances, due to the higher deviation factor (people travel less in a straight line over shorter distances) and the lower proportion of travel on the motorway. This means that not just the quality of the mobility network affects the travel speed, but also the type of mobility (many or few short trips). An indexed accessibility indicator is therefore used to correct for this.

Slight decrease in average travel speed

Based on the indexed accessibility indicator, travel speed decreased by almost 1?% between 2004 and 2009. The travel speed was 9% lower in peak hours than in off-peak hours, although this difference was less for short journeys. The decrease in travel time therefore took place during peak hours; the travel speed decreased by almost 1.5% in the morning and evening rush hours. The rush hours have also broadened: in the hour before and after peak rush hour the travel speed decreased by 2.5%. Outside peak hours, the travel speed increased by 0.5%.
As already described, the travel speed over short distances is, on average, clearly lower than for longer distances, and this difference is increasing. There has been a substantial decrease in average travel time for short distances (by over 2%), but an increase of 0.5% for long distances.
Travel speed by bicycle and public transport is considerably lower. The direct as the crow flies travel speed by bicycle was an average of 9.6 km/h, and 21 km/h by public transport. Bicycle travel speeds are highest in Friesland, Overijssel and Gelderland and lowest in Noord-Holland and Zuid-Holland as it is possible to cycle faster in rural areas than in towns. Public transport is also faster in rural areas than in urban areas, and the higher frequencies in urban public transport are reflected only to a limited extent in the travel speed.