Dutch transportation planning and the use of longitudinal analysis

This paper evaluates transportation research and planning in the Netherlands from the policy viewpoint. Recently, the government coalition, which has been in power for seven years, has fallen over a transportation issue. A major role in this event was played by the growth forecasts for car traffic up to the year 2010. The role of transportation planning, available techniques and models, and the proposals to deal with the expected mobility growth are presented in relation to the history of this event. The role of the longitudinal panel, initiated in 1984, and of dynamic travel behavior analysis in general, are evaluated in view of the requirements of policy-related transportation research.