About the MPN
Moving house, changing jobs, having children, buying a new car – all these events have an influence on the way people get around. The Netherlands Mobility Panel (Mobiliteitspanel Nederland, MPN), a monitoring programme administered by the KiM Netherlands Institute for Transport Policy Analysis, collects data on the travel behaviour of a fixed group of individuals and households over several years. The data are used by KiM in its own research and are available for use by fellow researchers.
What is the objective of the MPN?
The MPN gives insights into the factors that influence changes in the travel behaviour of the Dutch population. It also gives information about the mobility of various groups in society, such as young people, families with children and older people.
Researchers can use data from the MPN to answer questions such as these:
- How do changes in people’s lives – such as changing jobs, the birth of a child or divorce – influence their mobility patterns?
- How does the use of electric bikes, for example for travel to work or for shopping, influence the use of other means of transport? Do e-bikes mainly replace standard push bikes, or are they also used instead of other transport modes?
- Is there a relationship between people’s health and the means of transport they use?
The MPN was launched in July 2013. Respondents aged 12 years and over from around 2,000 complete households keep a record of their mobility behaviour over a three day period in a travel diary. They register not only the trips they make, but also how they travel, the people they travel with, any delays they experience and their parking costs. In addition, they fill in various questionnaires that contain a wealth of information about themselves and their households.
What can the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management do with this information?
Analyses of data from the MPN enable the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management to be more responsive to changes in mobility. Insights from the MPN can also be used to improve the traffic and transport models the government uses when taking decisions about investments in the transport system. Furthermore, the panel can be used to easily gather information about a specific topic. Because a lot of information is already available from the panel, extra information can be obtained from a relatively short questionnaire survey and directly linked to the current travel behaviour of the respondents.
Who works on the MPN?
The MPN is an initiative by the KiM Netherlands Institute for Transport Policy Analysis. Kantar Public provides the respondents and takes care of all communication with these respondents.
What does the MPN deliver?
Each year the MPN produces a set of data from the household questionnaires, the individual questionnaires and the travel diaries.
Who can use the databases?
The MPN databases are made available two years after data collection after being stripped of privacy-sensitive information. The data is available to third parties via Survey Data Netherlands. Retrieval, consultation and use of the data are subject to certain restrictions. Users must apply for login information from KiM before any data may be retrieved.
How can I obtain access to the data?
The MPN data can only be accessed if you have the required login information. It is also possible to collect additional data via the MPN system by cooperating with KiM on bespoke and supplementary studies. You can find more information on how to obtain access to the MPN data and the possibilities for collecting additional data here.
Would you like to be kept informed of the research?
All news items and the outcomes of the various studies that are conducted with the MPN are published on this website.
Explanimation – What is the MPN?
MPN - The Netherlands Mobility Panel Explanimation
The Netherlands Mobility Panel helps us to determine the role transport plays in the lives of millions of people in the Netherlands.
When people’s lives change, the way they get around changes too.
That provides us with important figures and insights.
Let’s take a look at Sandra and Robert’s family...
Sandra just started a new job at an office in the big city.
She used to enjoy cycling to work, but now she has to go by car every day.
That means she’s often stuck in traffic.
Which is annoying for Robert, because he has to cycle to the supermarket again.
Nowadays, he prefers to order online and have their groceries delivered at home.
When grandma and grandpa come over to baby-sit, they take the bus.
They used to cycle, but ever since grandpa had an accident, they haven’t felt like cycling anymore.
The Netherlands Mobility Panel’s findings give us insights into the relationship between changing personal circumstances and travel behaviour, and how it evolves over time.
These insights are used by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment to establish suitable policies for the future so we can keep the Netherlands moving smoothly, safely and comfortably.