Ministry of Transport and Public Works

Evaluation of the Delft Bicycle Network Plan

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INTRODUCTION

In Dutch transport policy, as formulated in the 'Structaurschema's Verheer en Vervaer' and the Multi-Year Programmes for Personal Transport, high priority is given to the encouragement of bicycle use and to the improvement of traffic safety by means of providing facilities for cyclists. It was thought that thus car traffic and its negative impacts could be reduced.

To this end, the second Multi-Year Programme for Personal Transport 1980-1984 included several actions such as constructing urban bicycle networks. The Ministry of Transport and Public Works has several instruments to realize the abovementioned goal. In addition to its subsidy schemes for financing specific projects, giving information is an important tash too. In the view of the Ministry it is its task to gather the necessary insights and to develop instruments that may be used by local authorities for their transport planning.

In 1960 the Minister of Traffic and Public Works chose the plan put forward by Delft Municipality as the project for evaluation. The before-study was started in 1982. All the component studies have been carried out and the reports completed.

The study should provide answers to the following questions:

• does the implementation of a comprehensive bicycle network lead to an increase in bicycle traffic?
• does the implementation of a bicycle network increase traffic safety?
• in which way do cyclists use a comprehensive and integral bicycle network which is perceived as such, and what are their behavioural responses?

The essential assumption of this plan is that a comprehensive bicycle network in an urban environment affects bicycle use and its quality much more than a number of individual bicycle routes. This hypothesis is based on the findings obtained from the earlier 'demonstration projects' in Tilburg, The Hague, Rijswijk and Eindhoven.

The evaluation study consists of a before-study held in 1952 and an after-study that was carried out in 1965, after a large number of measures were taken. At this moment all parts of the evaluation study have been completed, except the investigation into safety effects.

This summary report briefly discusses the main results end conclusions of the evaluation study. The next chapter outlines the principles of the bicycle network plan. Chapter three offers a unified theoretical framework for the explanation of the observed changes in travel behaviour. Then the set-up of the investigations is presented, followed by condensed summaries of the individual parts of the evaluation.
Chapter six integrates the results of these separate studies into coherent and consistent estimates of the plan's effects. Using the theoretical framework these effects will be explained as results of changes in behaviour. The final chapter eight summarizes the findings and conclusions.