Car and bicycle are very highly appreciated

  • Soort:Nieuws Fietsberaad
  • Datum:13-01-2009

The Dutch are very highly appreciative of the car and the bicycle; 86% and 84% give a positive score respectively. Public transport is less highly appreciated: 51% give a negative score, while 26% give a positive score. The more often people travel by car, bicycle and public transport, the more positive their view of it. That is particularly the case for public transport.


These are the most important conclusions drawn in the Knowledge Institute for Mobility Policy (KiM) entitled ‘Experiences and impressions of mobility’ which was published some time ago.
The report answers the question of how the Dutch experience car, cycle and public transport usage and what impressions they have of those experiences.

Car offers freedom, convenience, comfort, speed and enjoyment
86% of the Dutch have a positive opinion of the car, while 5% have a negative opinion. The more often people travel by car, the more positive they are about it: of the Dutch travellers who go by car several times a week, 91% have a positive opinion of the car; Dutch travellers who hardly use the car at all are more likely to have a negative opinion (24%).
The car is often associated with independence (freedom), flexibility, convenience, comfort, speed, safety and enjoyment. The issue of traffic congestion hardly detracts at all from the positive image that the Dutch have of the car. Although many consider traffic congestion to be a serious societal problem, they do not experience many problems with it themselves. It is primarily because the majority of the car users seldom or never encounter traffic congestion themselves (63%).
Even among drivers who encounter traffic congestion at least once a week, 26% personally have almost no problems with it. Irritations mentioned more frequently among drivers are the behaviour of other road users and the high costs. During leisure hours, parking problems are a frequent irritation.

Cycling is cheap, reliable and has hardly any disadvantages
84% of the Dutch have a positive opinion of the bicycle, while 7% have a negative opinion. Frequent cyclists are positive about cycling much more often (95% of them express a positive opinion) than Dutch travellers who almost never use bicycles (29% of them have a negative opinion). The bicycle is often associated with low costs, self-reliance and reliable travel times (it always gets you there on time). Bicycle users hardly ever encounter bottlenecks. If they foresee any problems, it primarily concerns bad weather. The behaviour of other road users is sometimes considered irritating, and the availability of sufficient bicycle storage options can sometimes present problems for travel during leisure hours.

Public transport: expensive and slow, but safe
26% of the Dutch have a positive opinion of public transport, while 51% have a negative opinion. The more often people travel by public transport, the more positive their view of it. Of the Dutch travellers who take public transport several times a week, 56% have a positive opinion; however, 24% of people who frequently use public transport have a negative opinion. Of the Dutch travellers who hardly ever take public transport (71%), 62% have a negative opinion. Public transport primarily receives low scores on aspects like speed, cost and the lack of flexibility. Public transport does fairly well on safety.

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Car and bicycle are very highly appreciated

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