Jerom Theunissen Photography

City in Context

Utrecht is located in the east of the Randstad region, and is a mid-sized city that currently is home to 330,000 residents. The city’s streets are already seeing heavy congestion in terms of bicycle, car, and train traffic. Around 70% of all rush-hour traffic in the city is within 15 kilometers of the city center, where 37% take the bike, 12% with public transit, and 51% by private automobile. Utrecht has a worldwide leading position in bicycle use today, competing with big names like Amsterdam and Copenhagen. Growth numbers are impressive: the number of cyclists has increased as much as 10% per year in certain portions of the city. Growth in bicycle use has been coupled with a decline in automobile traffic all over the city, especially in the city center. But with the city expected to grow more than any other city in the Netherlands, more must be done to create a new balance between traffic and available space to ensure a livable city.

In terms of trips by bicycle, the city’s existing network is at capacity. During rush-hour, bike lanes are stuffed to the brim and cyclists often enter the roadway. Yet, the city also realizes its potential to become a world class cycling city. The city has the impressive cycling infrastructure already. The “fietsstraat” (bicycle boulevard) network is 6 km and is the longest among any city the Netherlands. The uniquely designed Dafne Schippersbrug bridge is another example. Also, incorporation of long-distance routes that link with regional cycle networks captures trips taken by electric bikes (e-bikes). Their expanded range of mobility has the potential to further displace travel by private automobile as far as 20 km from the city center. Expansion of these routes are accompanied by “green-waves” in which signals allow cyclists to continue cycling with synchronized traffic lights. Finally, the city is also expanding bicycle parking to accompany the growth of traffic. At Utrecht Central Station, one can find the world’s largest bicycle parking garage, boasting capacity for 33,000 bikes upon completion in 2020.

What’s more, higher frequency trains between between Randstad cities from 4 to 6 times per hour can ensure reliability and a seat during rush hour, making a heavy rail network seem like a Randstad-sized metro system!

Altogether, mobility serves as a medium through which quality of life can be improved in the city. The above graph from Utrecht’s Sustainable Mobility Plan (SUMP) succinctly depicts how mobility initiatives are tools to achieve a livable city. This framework will serve me well as I further continue my travels!

Not Your Typical Suburb - A Visit to Houten

At first glance, the sleepy municipality of Houten seem just like any other small suburb in the Netherlands: quiet, flanked by farmland, and a small central business district surrounded by family homes. But upon closer inspection, Houten is unique in its approach to mobility. The city center is only accessible by bicycle or on foot. Car traffic is limited to a figure-eight “Rondweg” ring road. Within the ring road, limited access roads have a low speed limit of 30 km/h primarily used for driveways. To get from one end of the town to the other, travel by bike is simply the fastest way to get around. Altogether, transport by cycling and walking account for 55% of all travel in Houten, and another 11% with public transit. This is a remarkable achievement for a suburb, where one would normally see the majority of trips made by car.

However, this idyllic model for suburban transportation does not necessarily make for a more livable city. I felt as though Houten lacked a certain vivacity, with the city center largely empty and few people about. I was not alone. UC Boulder transport scholar Kevin Krizek called Houten a Truman Show-style city: “The typical American suburbs are critiqued for being overly auto-dependent but also sterile. Yet, Houten had a slightly different flavor. Here you find a balanced transport system but little else. It is here were you question the degree of vitality and liveliness that multiple modes might provide to an urban fabric.” Upon my visit to Houten, I learned an important lesson: Mobility alone cannot make a city a more liveable, likeable, and loveable place, and there needs to be reasons to go from A to B. Mobility should not be achieved just for mobilty’s sake. A more integrated approach to creating livable cities, where mobility is a means to an end, shows more promise. Houten ranks highly in regards to promoting sustainable transport, but otherwise is just like any other Dutch suburb.

Interviews at Nederlandse Spoorwegen and ProRail - National Public Transport

It is fitting that the busiest rail station in the Netherlands, Utrecht Centraal, is also where the headquarters of national rail operator, Nederlandse Spoorwegen, are located. I visited the company to get the perspective of a national public transport provider, and what they are doing to improve the lives of the million passengers they move every day. I was invited by a good family friend, Marian Spiertz, who is based in the commercial department. I also visited ProRail, which is a government enterprise charged with infrastructure management and maintenance, capacity distribution, and traffic control.

According to the Dutch government, on-time performance (defined as the percentage of trains delayed for no more than three minutes at destinations and interchanges) improved from 80% in 2000 to 87% in 2008. The general customer satisfaction rating has risen; communication with passengers during service disruptions has improved through information screens, the presence of information providers on larger stations and the provision of up-to-date travel information via (mobile) internet. On smaller stations service pillars have been installed, which passengers can use to seek assistance and information. Despite these improvements, passengers still mention the availability and reliability of travel information during service disruptions as the main area for improvement.

Sustainability of Dutch Rail Travel-  Michiel van Deerenberg, ProRail

While NS is the railway operator, the government retains responsibility for the infrastructure. I spoke with Michiel about what the firm is doing to sustainably develop and manage one of the busiest rail networks in the world. The first thing he mentioned was that 100% of electrified track in the Netherlands is supplied using wind power to ensure that travel remains carbon-neutral within the country. On tracks that are not electrified, Michiel has been busy with trials that are testing trains powered with hydrogen fuels, a cleaner and more environmentally friendly alternative to diesel.

Michiel also pointed out that the existing use of the railway network is not yet fully optimized, and that a "Triple A" strategy can allow for capacity of the Netherland's rail network to be raised by 50%. Ultimately, this is necessary because NS and ProRail are seeking minimize delay and disruption while simultaneously provide timetable-less services on the busiest routes in the Randstad region. On some lines, such as the A2 Corridor, this has meant increasing the frequency of trains from 4 to 6 times per hour. The rail system then becomes more like a giant metro network, and seamless access and egress travel by public transport is made more attractive by improved coordination of the regional public transport systems and the rail network. However, on some routes infrastructure expansion is needed to operate with these metro frequencies, but Michiel is confident that more can be done using the Triple A strategy to minimize the need to build more. With frequency of trains on busy routes increasing, travelers will begin to see various public transport systems at national, regional and urban levels, coalesce into a single, distributed and multimodal transport system.

Innovation at NS - Joost van der Made

In order to ensure high quality service for its customers, NS does extensive research into the desires of the traveler. I spoke with Joost van der Made, who is the head of concept development, to learn about what NS is doing to make the journeys of their customers as seamless as possible. Joost first pointed to research done recently to understand the emotions of travelers during nine distinct phases of train travel and to survey what travelers would like to experience. The research found three core needs: the feelings of control, appreciation, and freedom. The three core needs then each received three design principles for NS to develop new concepts like comprehensive travel guide apps, innovative train cabin layouts, and station amenities you typically find in open-office layouts. Joost underscored the need to understand the emotional drivers of the traveler to ensure public transport remains an attractive option, especially given the development of autonomous vehicles. Human-centered design in practice!