Netherlands

City: 
general practices
Facility Type: 
motorways
Length of Controlled Section: 
997km (2006) (+61km planned by 2008)
Objectives: 
reduce congestion, increase safety
Conditions: 
usually congestion or incident related. Since 2002, some sections have been limited for short periods to 80km/h for pollution reduction
Date Implemented: 
1981
Other Information: 
the MTM (motorway traffic management) system also includes lane control and automatic incident detection with queue warning
Operational Information
Concerned Vehicles: 
all
Operating Partners: 
AVV
Other ATDM Approaches: 
ramp metering, Dyn route info, shoulder running,
Speed Information
Speed Limit: 
regulatory if posted in a red circle/recommended without a circle
Speed Variability: 
30, 50 60, 70, 80 or 90 km/h
Maximum Speed: 
120 km/h
Traffic Control Devices
Speed Signs: 
one matrix sign per lane on gantries displaying speed, end-of-limits, deflection arrow(right or left) or red cross every 300-700m (alternating 500m- 1000m was abandonned)
Explanatory Signs: 
flashers are only used for deflection arrows
ITS: 
loops every 300-700m
Performance Measures
Operational Effectiveness: 
4.5% increase in capacity during congestion, smoother merges at bottlenecks during road-works (results from 1983 study)
Safety Evaluation: 
24% overall reduction in number of accidents (results from 1983 study)
Lane Speeds: 
One speed limit for all lanes
Enforcement
Enforcement: 
video based
Operational Experience: 
multiple lane closures are done in sequence, each lane closure being separated form another by 40 seconds. When appropriate action vehicles with adequate signing are posted to display a flashing deflection arrow sign and force a closure 50m after the first arrow on gantry.
Maintenance: 
To provide efficient maintenance, the function of every lamp, sign or detector is monitored continuously. A certain level of malfunction will not prevent the system from functionning properly.