Calculating with policy (English summary)
Current traffic models are unnecessarily complex, labour-intensive and insufficiently transparent. In order to better serve the needs of policymakers, the KiM Netherlands Institute for Transport Policy Analysis outlined three important challenges in the years ahead. To arrive at the proper information needed for taking policy decisions, the models need to be simpler, their quality better guaranteed, and the outcomes presented in a straightforward manner. The policy options for each challenge are then mapped in order to allow for alternate approaches to traffic models.
This report is available in Dutch
These conclusions are included in KiM’s ‘Calculating with policy’ report. At the request of the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment’s Directorate-General for Mobility, KiM studied the use of traffic models in policy processes and ways of better serving the needs of policymakers. According to KiM, adapting traffic models also requires another type of governance for model development. In short, more control is required. This could be achieved by setting up a permanent steering group in which the users of model results collaborate and clearly state what they expect from traffic models.