Effects of the opening of the Amsterdam orbital motorway : final report phase 1

On September 28, 1990 the Zeeburger waterway crossing was opened thus completing the orbital motorway around Amsterdam, a fact with important consequences for the traffic flow in the region of Amsterdam and parts of the rest of the Netherlands. This final report of phase 1 of the "Study effects of the opening of the Amsterdam orbital motorway" (= Studie effecten openstelling ringweg Amsterdam) deals with direct effects on traffic and is a summary of published research investigations before and after the opening, that measured the effects and analysed them quantitively. Some conclusions. With respect to changes in travel behaviour there were considerable shifts in route choice and departure time choice ; destination choice / travel frequency, and transport mode choice hardly changed. With respect to effects on traffic flow, the loss of time because of congestion decreased, there were considerable shifts in traffic peaks, considerable gains in travel times, hardly any influence on public transport, and big shifts and limited generation concerning latent demand and induced traffic. With respect to effects on environmental quality there were some improvements of traffic safety, and hardly any change in noise emissions / air pullution at source.