Car is the most optimal means of transport in the Netherlands

The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) has released an accessibility analysis throughout the Netherlands to provide insight at neighborhood level to what extent the Dutch have access to facilities and jobs. The conclusion may not be very surprising, but it is certainly interesting. The PBL concludes that residents of the Netherlands with a car have by far the highest accessibility of facilities and jobs. And that’s not just on the weekend. The accessibility analysis shows that even during peak hours the car provides the best access to facilities. This accessibility is even higher outside peak times, i.e. in off-peak hours, concludes PBL.

According to the accessibility analysis by PBL, people who are completely dependent on public transport have ‘considerably’ less easy access to facilities. Especially in rural areas or on the outskirts of the city. An additional disadvantage of public transport is that the accessibility of transport outside off-peak hours is reduced, as there are often fewer trains, buses and trams running outside the busiest hours. PBL indicates that cycling can offer some solace in increasing accessibility, but that the ‘bicycle accessibility’ of local facilities is often limited outside the major city centres.

To make things more transparent, PBL provides interesting examples. According to the PBL, thirty percent of the elderly who live in rural areas, in villages or in the outskirts of cities cannot reach a hospital or outpatient clinic within half an hour if they do not have access to a car. 12 percent cannot even do this within 45 minutes, the Planning Bureau writes. Younger Dutch people who cannot go to school by car also suffer from this. For example, 10 percent of young people who live in rural areas are on their way to a VMBO school for more than thirty minutes by bike and 17 percent cannot reach a HAVO/VWO school within 30 minutes by bike. Public transport is not a solution. According to PBL, the above would also have a strong influence on school choice.

According to PBL, the results of the study can contribute to, among other things, making accessibility problems in our country more transparent. In addition, it provides insight into the effect of accessibility on participation in the Netherlands and can form the basis for debate about possible standards for minimum accessibility of facilities.