Rewarding motorists who avoid rush hour in Utrecht

Author: CIVITAS Support

Posted on: Friday, March 4, 2011 - 15:32

Road capacity will drop temporarily on some of the most important entry routes of Utrecht due to extensive infrastructural changes. To safeguard access during the construction works, it is estimated that 2000 to 4000 cars will have to avoid the morning peak hour. One of the measures to aid this process is Reverse Road Pricing. This involves motorists receiving a cash bonus if they avoid rush hours instead of being charged for using the roads during rush hour as is the case in various European cities.

Utrecht will take a variety of measures to aid this process, many of which come under the CIVITAS MIMOSA programme. One such innovative measure is Reverse Road Pricing. This involves motorists receiving a cash bonus if they avoid rush hours instead of being charged for using the roads during rush hour as is the case in various European cities.Participants were selected via license plate camera registration. Motorists seen three times in two weeks on Utrecht’s A2 highway received an invitation to participate in the project. Over the course of 13 weeks, participants earned 4€ for every weekday they avoided the A2 highway during morning rush hour. Road cameras were on hand to keep track of cars. Results from the first phase show that 4025 motorists earned an average amount of 55 Euro bringing the total cost of the Accessible Utrecht project to 220,000 euros. Traffic counts showed a decrease of approximately 750 cars on the highways around Utrecht. Once a full evaluation study is finalised, a decision will be taken on whether or not to repeat the measure.