Changes in commuting habits in the Netherlands significantly reduced traffic congestion, even as traffic nearly returned to pre-pandemic levels. Bicycles grew faster than cars as a commuting method in 2022.
The Netherlands is known as a cycling country, with 85 percent of households owning at least one bicycle. This is supported by adapted road infrastructure, including many dedicated cycle lanes for cyclists. But cycling has again become more popular for commuting, even though the car remains the preferred mode of transport for Dutch commuters, regardless of commute distance.
The number of commuter journeys by car, bicycle and public transport increased by more than 7.5 million per week in 2022 compared to 2021, according to the National Traveler Survey published on March 8.
Commissioned by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, the National Traveler Survey has been conducted annually with 13,000 respondents since 2019 to gain insights into commuter traffic in the Netherlands.
This increase in commuting in 2022 is due to the end of measures to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and many workers’ return to the office. More than half of the increase in commuting, 4 million out of the 7.5 million more journeys per week, is made by car.
A more even distribution of travel decreased traffic congestion
However, bicycle use between 2021 and 2022 grew faster in relative terms (+17%) than car journeys (+14%), suggesting a slight shift in commuting habits. Public transport use grew by 30 percent, but from a much smaller base, and this increase is attributed to reduced use during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The car remains the preferred method of transport, with 65 percent of journeys to or from work by car, 23 percent by bicycle, and 10 percent by public transport in 2022, a split that wasn’t measured in 2019, so it can’t be compared to pre-pandemic figures.
But the research found that changes in transport methods significantly reduced road traffic congestion and the number of hours lost to traffic.
The study shows that traffic on highways for commuting decreased by only 1 percent in 2022 compared to 2019, bringing it almost back to pre-pandemic levels. So, the Dutch are far from abandoning the car.
However, traffic jams on main road networks shrank by 20 percent in the same period. The study attributes it almost entirely to new commuting patterns. A more even distribution of travel resulted in a 15 to 20 percent decrease in hours lost to car commuting, with the study ruling out other factors, such as car use for other purposes, as having a major impact.
In addition to the increased use of bicycles, different commuting habits, such as more flexible working hours, also explain the new distribution of travel. Workers have more flexibility in arranging their workweek, although rush-hour patterns have remained the same. However, the study doesn’t explore this point in depth.
As for remote working, people worked from home 1.1 days per week on average in 2022, which is still more common than before the COVID-19 pandemic (0.8 days per week in 2019), although it was lower than in 2021.
These behavioral changes also reduced carbon emissions. According to the survey calculations, carbon emissions from all transport modes combined for commuting decreased by 8 percent in 2022 compared to 2021, saving 0.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. The car fleet became more efficient to some extent (-1.8% of carbon emissions), but the main reason for the reduction was the 6.6 percent decrease in kilometers traveled by car.
Convenience and travel time are decisive in choosing a mode of transport
Carbon emissions from commuters in 2022 amounted to 6.1 MtCO2eq, of which 5.8 Mt came from single-occupancy cars. Shared mobility — be it by bicycle, motorbike or car sharing — has increased slightly from 15 percent in 2021 to 17 percent in 2022, but most people don’t use shared mobility at all. Overall, individuals’ transport emissions are still influenced by journeys other than commuting, such as recreational or business travel.
Convenience, accessibility, and travel time play decisive roles in transport choices, according to respondents.
Without drawing a clear conclusion about the trend, the study noted that the average travel distance between home and work increased in recent years to 22.7 kilometers (14.1 miles) in 2022 (15% higher than in 2019). Distance is a major factor in choosing a transport method. Four out of ten journeys of up to 7.5 kilometers (4.7 miles) are now made by bicycle, which is more than in previous years.
The main reason why workers do not cycle to work is that the workplace is too far (41%). As such, longer commuting distances could significantly affect cycling rates, for instance, if households relocate farther from their workplaces. In addition, bad weather conditions are a decisive factor for 23% of employees who do not use their bicycles.
One of the main reasons people switch to cycling is that it is an economical form of transport. Financial considerations, such as avoiding fuel costs, having access to a car, or having their public transportation pass paid for by the company, strongly influence the commuting method.
While a closed bicycle shed at work is a strong incentive to use bikes, free parking space is also an important reason people use their cars. Excessive parking has also negatively affected the environmental performance of a country like Ireland in a recent OECD evaluation.
Fewer traffic jams and carbon emissions, but road safety worsened
Environment Minister Vivianne Heijnen of the center-right Christian Democratic Appeal welcomed the report showing that “more and more people are taking the bike to work” but also stressed that “once again, it appears that employers hold the key to making cycling attractive.”
Meanwhile, with provincial elections coming in mid-March in the Netherlands, the Mobility Alliance, a lobby group representing 26 traffic organizations and transport companies that advocates freedom of movement in the Netherlands, recently published a manifesto asking local officials to invest in better access to public transport in the provinces. The number of bus stops and bus lines has decreased significantly over the past five years, especially in rural areas, the investigative platform Pointer from the Dutch public broadcaster KRO-NCRV recently reported.
Commuters who use their cars say they cannot use alternative modes of transport, for example because their journey cannot be made by bicycle or because they prefer the convenience, comfort, or travel time offered by cars.
Comfort, or the lack of it, is the first reason commuters stopped cycling between 2021 and 2022. Nevertheless, people who walk or cycle to work are most often satisfied or very satisfied with their mode of transport. The opposite is true for people who use cars or public transport.
On the downside, the new traffic conditions have worsened road safety, according to the study. The number of road casualties has decreased slightly, as incidents involving motorized vehicles have become less frequent. Motorized vehicles travel at higher speeds and are used for longer journeys. However, serious injuries have increased with the growing use of bicycles.
This seemingly paradoxical consequence already occurred in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite reduced traffic and fewer road deaths in 2020, the Netherlands recorded its highest number of cycling deaths in 25 years. Fatalities were higher during periods of lower traffic intensity.
