SWOV positions

14 December 2007

The Dutch cabinet has agreed to the Minister of Transport's proposal to introduce road pricing for all roads in the Netherlands, differentiated by time of day, location, and pollution characteristics. The cabinet decision closely follows the proposals which can be found in the Mobility Policy Document. SWOV is of the opinion that the road safety effects have not been taken into consideration sufficiently, and argues for more attention in the subsequent phases.

In the preliminary phase, SWOV participated in a study of the possible road safety effects of this intention and has published its findings in the report entitled Road pricing and road safety (R-2007-4E).

The most important conclusion of this study was that the available data was insufficient to make an accurate estimate of the road safety effects. It is certainly possible that an incorrect type of road pricing will cause a mobility shift to groups with a higher to a very much higher crash rate; for example, from cars to motorcycles or from motorways to secondary roads.

SWOV expects that a correct type of road pricing can benefit road safety. We therefore recommend follow-up research to determine how to avoid possible negative effects. The criteria mentioned in the minister's letter to Parliament offer sufficient leads. This is particularly the case for the social cost-benefit ratio which the cabinet attaches much importance to. Road crashes result in high social costs, and a correct type of road pricing can bring considerable savings. SWOV urges close monitoring of mobility shifts in the tests that will be carried out between now and 2011.   

More background information can be found in the SWOV report 'Road pricing and road safety'; R-2007-4E at www.swov.nl/.