Toll study new river crossing Rotterdam region

The motorway system in the Rotterdam region is under pressure. Despite the current expansion of the highway system, severe bottlenecks are a threat to accessibility in the region. The "Rotterdam Vooruit" project is a joint effort of the Rotterdam municipality, the Zuid-Holland province, the City Region Rotterdam and the National government and aims for sustainable accessibility in the region. In the project, the joint parties investigate bottlenecks and identify the feasibility of new developments as proposed in the "Masterplan Rotterdam Vooruit" late 2009.

The Masterplan revealed that from 2015 on significant problems in the traffic arise in and around the Benelux tunnel. One subproject therefore aims at improvement of traffic circulation in the Benelux corridor by developing a new western river crossing (NWO). In addition to reducing congestion in the Benelux Tunnel this new crossing will enhance the robustness of the Port of Rotterdam. The subproject investigates two alternative schemes: the Orange Trace (near the Maeslant storm surge barrier) and the Blankenburg Trace (east of the village of Maassluis).

To finance the development of the river crossing, tolling is applied. Obtaining balance between the incomes from tolling and the impact on the existing Benelux tunnel – where daily congestion occurs – is crucial. Goudappel Coffeng has analysed many toll schemes. For this objective the 'StreamLine' dynamic traffic assignment model was successfully applied.

For the study, a subnet from the Rotterdam Urban model was used. Some features of the resulting OmniTRANS/StreamLine model are:

-          4 user groups (commuting, business and other, freight);

-          Dynamic route choice ‘Method of Successive Averaging' (MSA);

-          Different tolls for passenger and freight traffic; and

-          Departure profiles per user category.

The dynamic model is well capable of simulating delays on the existing infrastructure as well as taking into account travellers' decision factors such as travel time and travel costs. A distinction was made between multiple user groups with different values of time. Model outputs give a clear insight in the applicability and effect of the tolling schemes in terms of revenue on the new crossing as well as circulation effects on the existing (Benelux tunnel) river crossing.