Market separation. Regional developments in passenger and freight transport

This study by KiM Netherlands Institute for Transport Policy Analysis (KiM) focuses on regional differences in traffic flows and the interaction between the various transport modes. The study was conducted in the framework of the ‘Action Plan for Mobility', in which, as a follow up to the Mobility Policy document, the Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management presented a package of supplementary policy measures in 2008.

One of the study's conclusions is that public transport maintains a strong market position with regard to trips made between the centres of urban areas, although these trip volumes are relatively small. For all other types of trips, the car or walking/bicycling is the preferred mode of transport. At present, and in future, the majority of trips are undertaken within a single urban area, and to/from outlying areas, with the latter category expected to grow at the fastest rate during the decade leading up to 2020.

Car use moreover is largely unaffected by improvements in public transport services. Cars and public transport remain predominately separate markets. Public transport's opportunities to gain market share lie in routes characterised by large car trip volumes, and where favourable travel times (augmented by only minor improvements in service) render public transport more competitive.

Road transport remains the dominant mode of transporting freight in virtually all regions of the country, with inland waterways and railways only claiming substantial transport market shares in areas around ports. This picture is expected to remain largely unchanged in future. Limited options exist for shifting freight transport from roads to rail and/or inland shipping. A reduction of external costs does not counterbalance the social costs of ‘coercive' measures.