Accessibility and sustainable commuting: A study on business sites in the Netherlands

Abstract

Commuting is increasingly seen as an area where gains can be made in relation to sustainability, since it accounts for a large share of the travelled kilometres and is often performed on a daily basis. This thesis therefore concerns sustainable commuting to business sites in the Netherlands. There is a pressing need to understand the ways in which sustainable commuting to business sites is already performed and how this can be improved. Business sites in the Netherlands accommodate around 30% of employment and 10% of all businesses. However, the majority of employees currently commute to the business site by car. The research uses quantitative methods to investigate to what extent Dutch business sites are accessible by sustainable commute modes and whether this is associated with differences in geographical location and commuting behaviour. The research contends that the majority of Dutch business sites has insufficient accessibility by sustainable commute modes. This differs between urban and rural business sites. Not only do urban business sites have better accessibility by different sustainable commute modes separately, urban business sites are generally also better accessible by multiple sustainable commute modes simultaneously. Moreover, the research contends that these urban-rural differences in accessibility by sustainable commute modes are associated with differences in sustainable commuting behaviour. On urban business sites where accessibility by sustainable commute modes is generally better, sustainable commuting is namely used to a larger extent than to rural business sites, where accessibility by sustainable commute modes is generally worse. Improving sustainable commuting infrastructure is therefore presented as an important precondition for improving sustainable commuting to business sites, especially in rural areas.