The best way to "combat traffic congestion....also improve the quality of life" would be to offer more affordable and reliable public transportation rather than taxing us more on vehicles we need to get to work and school!!!!!

By Ames | September 15, 2010 9:21 AM

I like mid-size cars. I drive perhaps few times a week. Why should I pay a hefty road tax when my mid-size car is often parked?

Use kilometer tax and drop hefty tax on new cars. Put more quality cars on the road. Raise average car age!

By david | September 15, 2010 10:21 AM

I agree with @Ames! How about all the railroad lines that are shut down for one reason or another which hinders people from getting where they need to be. Maybe they should place more tracks just for this purpose. Definitely public transportation will need to be re-vamped if they start charging the kilometre tax!

By Pam | September 15, 2010 2:11 PM

best way to combat congestion, is to limit one car per household. problem solved!

By COLIN | September 15, 2010 2:23 PM

how about taking away lease cars from those that don't actually need them for their job.

secretaries, HR reps, internal IT specialists: all working 5days a week at the same location and yet they get a company car.

also, why are so many companies located so far from where people live. I've lived in the 4th largest city in the Netherlands for 16 years and never had a job in utrecht...?!

By john e boy | September 15, 2010 2:39 PM

Why not let more people work from home? Before I retired I was quite capable of doing my job via either a modem connected over the phone line or using the internet. But instead I had to drive to and from work. Thus using imported petrol and wasting time.

By Jamie Anderson | September 15, 2010 3:52 PM

@COLIN: that would be authoritarian and completely unacceptable. If a grown-up children, for whatever reason, is staying one extra year with his/her parents, then he/she can't take the car with? If a widowed parent, still healthy and able to drive, moves in with their grown-up children, couldn't he/she get his car?

@john e boy: car is freedom and enable you to look after employment in other cities. Even with congestion, it is usually faster to use your car if both your house and workplace are not located near train stations.

Real estate (residential and commercial) costs too much near train stations. On the other hand, I don't think people in Netherlands want industries back in their neighborhoods.

By Andre Lot | September 15, 2010 4:07 PM

Let's get down to brass tacks & do it right: Tax the rich into poverty, thereby making everyone financially equal and totally dependent on the Beneficent State. Call it a "Liberty Tax" and let the elite buy individual freedoms until they're poor. Presto! Problem solved!

By Drawer22 | September 15, 2010 4:39 PM

I agree with the comments on the trains. Going to work today (Wed,15Sep.)Every train was late & some were cancelled.
I read here recently that the Govt. have cancelled some new train lines as it's too expensive. Seems it's cheaper to tax motorists (again).

By Donaugh | September 15, 2010 5:57 PM

The problem is that we all have to start working at the same time. In my opinion, the solution get rid of the peak hours. Spread the starting time of the employes among several hours and encourage working from home once a week.

By Perico | September 15, 2010 8:58 PM

"... IS the best way..."
How did PBL found out this IS the best way? They tried it and succeeded? Actually when there is a traffic jam the cars don't move much. The participants in a traffic jam could be from the neighborhood, so again the kilometre tax would be nonsense.

But let's look at the PBL site. These ideas appear to be generated by somebody called Maarten Hajer. He by the way is writing books about new methods of governance involving brainwashing the crowds with the mass media, apparently never tried before. So mr. Hajer is pushing his way to the inexperienced ministers like Eurlings and he is brainwashing them to make experiments with us for him.

Oh joy!

By George | September 15, 2010 9:58 PM

How's about organising society and work better so that no-one lives miles and miles away from their work, if necessary by more working from home on the pc?

More and more virtual work, life, etc, but work lags behind...

And for the Dutch folk tuning in: think of the savings!

By Punter | September 16, 2010 12:24 AM

Society needs not to "be organized", let alone by the State.

What usually happens is that couples (and Dutch are far more prone to move-in with boyfriends/girlfriends than any other European youngsters) live more-or-less near one's workplace, but far from another one.

It is impossible to match everyone's workplaces with living places for many reasons, one of them being the love of Dutch for more comfortable houses and their average disdain for high-rises typical of social housing projects.

We just need more roads.

As for telecommuting and work-at-home, it depends on the nature of the job. Many jobs, particularly the low-paying ones, cannot be done "at home". Peak hours also exist because companies deal with other companies in real time.

By Andre Lot | September 16, 2010 11:00 AM

Another best way would be to take away the cars. I am not sure how not driving a car would improve your life style. I find it ridiculous that all this is to avoid building more roads. How about promoting donkey as the primary mean of transportation? Good idea! And we should start from Ministers... Lead by example... Oh lord, why does it sound like NL is going to be a nightmare country to live in, in near future.

By Qasim | September 16, 2010 11:58 AM

to maintain the ecconomy we all need to work. The issue is congestion, why do we have congestion? Because there are to many cars on the road, but why, I commute from east to west and the trains are so full a seat is a luxury, if we take even another 10% of cars off the road the system will grind to a halt, it is just not possible for people to use public transport there is not enough capacity. Therefore, taxing us to go to work seems unfair and unsustainable, the ecconomy will suffer. We need to stagger working times and work more from home where possible and web cam meetings.

By Bill | September 16, 2010 4:02 PM