THE NEED FOR CONGESTION BUFFERS IN THE TRANSFORMATION PHASE ONLY

The Dutch policy, described in the Second Transport Structure Plan (SVV-2), to increase public transport use and decrease car use is slowed down by public disbelief. Strong government and opinion leaders, like P.A. Nouwen, are needed to speed up the SVV-II implementation. In order to move less-essential car delivers during peak hours to alternatives, congestion pricing and congestion buffers for this traffic are needed in the transformation phase only. The dimensions of buffers, situated in sites with recurrent congestion, decrease considerably with decreasing output flow. In some situations only the use of the hard shoulder as an excess lane satisfies to make congestion buffers. (A) For the covering abstract of the conference see IRRD 887581.