By William Farley and Ian Trout
This report provides a summary of public transportation services within the community.
Land Use
The area of Pijnacker-Nootdorp is largely a residential suburb that produces trips to the major employment centers nearby, including Den Haag, Rotterdam, and Zoetermeer. The community spans about 40 km2 and has a population of approximately 50,000 people in 19,000 houses. Of this population, approximately 38000 are work-ready. Currently, there are only around 14,000 jobs in the municipality, so many of the people must travel outside the suburb for employment. There exists two retail shopping centers in Pijnacker proper, both focused around the stops of the metro line that connects Rotterdam to Den Haag. Presently, office developments are being constructed near both the Pijnacker-Zuid and the Pijnacker Centrum stations (50,000 m2 and 5,000 m2, respectively).
Figure 1: Pijnacker area
Figure 2: Nootdorp area
Public Transportation
The Pijnacker-Nootdorp communities are served by one metro line that connects Den Haag and Rotterdam, one tram route serving Nootdorp, one Buurtbus route, and five bus routes. Four transit providers operate within the system: Rotterdamse Elektrische Tram (RET) operates the metro line E of the Randstadrail connecting Den Haag and Rotterdam, Haagsche Tramweg Maatschappij (HTM) provides service to Nootdorp with the tram line, the city of Pijnacker runs the Buurtbus in association with Veolia, who organizes the five bus routes.
a. Rail
· Randstadrail: Metro Line E opened in November 2006 on an abandoned railroad line and runs between Den Haag Central and Rotterdam Central.
o Metro Line E uses 22 Bombardier metro type R 5500 type trains each 42m long and consisting of 3 units each. The rail vehicles were constructed in Bautzen, Germany in 2008 and delivered in 2008-2009. Usually, two trains are used in each consist giving a total capacity of 208 seated passengers and 322 standees. The top speed of the trains is 100 km/h (62 mph).
o Currently there exist 15 stations along the rail line (3 stations in our area of focus). There are plans to open a new tunnel in December of 2011 that will permit line E trains to stop at Slinge station in south Rotterdam.
o Shelters with schedules and route information are provided at the stations for protection against the elements. A transit tracker board is also provided on each platform. Close circuit television is present throughout the stations to increase the feeling of safety for passengers.
o The Metro Line E runs every 15 minutes all day from 0530 to 0104 Monday thru Friday, from 0620 to 0104 on Saturday, and from 0720 to 0104 on Sunday. This frequency remains the same throughout peak hours.
o Fares to travel on the Metro run €3.50 for a 2hr ticket and €7.00 for an all day pass.
o Possible transfers in the area include one at Nootdorp with bus line 61 and two at Pijnacker Centrum with bus lines 121 and the Buurtbus.
o No vehicle parking is located at any of the three stations in Pijnacker-Nootdorp.
o There is one recorded incident of a derailment on November 29th, 2006, that injured 17 passengers.
Figure 3: Metro Line E pulling into Pijnacker-Zuid on its way to Rotterdam Central.
Figure 4: Typical station amenities found at Randstadrail stations. Photograph taken at Pijnacker Centrum station.
Figure 5: CCTV's and digital information display on the southbound platform at Pijnacker Centrum
· HTM Tram Line 15 serves the area between Nootdorp and Den Haag Central station every 15 minutes during early morning and late evening (0555 to 0700 and 1830 to 0054) and every 12 minutes during the rest of the day.
b. Bus
There are two providers of bus transit in the community, each serving a different clientele and service area. The Veolia buses primary serve fixed route transit throughout the region and the Buurtbus offers flexible route service for seniors and children within Pijnacker and Delfgauw.
· Veolia Bus Lines
o Veolia uses a fleet of MAN Lion City CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) buses to serve Pijnacker-Nootdorp. The buses are wheelchair accessible and equipped with cameras and travel information displays. A Mercedes Sprinter van is also used to serve Line #61.
Figure 6: Mercedes Benz sprinter van on line 61 at Pijnacker Gemeentekantoor
o There are a total of 43 bus stops in the Pijnacker-Nootdorp area.
o Route information is shown in Table 1.
o The bus lines use the OV-chipkaart, which is a national transit smart card. To board a bus in Haaglanden costs €0.79 and then a rate of €0.114 per kilometer is charged to the card.
Table 1: Details of the bus lines serving Pijnacker-Nootdorp.
Line | Route | Frequencies | Notes | ||
#60/#62 | Delft Station Centrum to Nootdorp Centrum | Weekdays | 0615 to 1900 | every 15 min | Line #60 and #62 have combined schedules so as to serve the Nootdorp area in a loop every 15 minutes in an alternating direction. At Nootdorp Centrum terminus, the #60 bus changes into a #62 and vice-versa. |
1900 to 0108 | every 30 min | ||||
Saturday | 0712 to 1812 | every 15 min | |||
1830 to 0108 | every 30 min | ||||
Sunday | 0814 to 0108 | every 30 min | |||
#61 | Den Haag Leidschenveen to Pijnacker Gemeentekantoor | Mon - Sat | 0700 to 1930 | every 30 min | Mercedes Sprinter van (8 person capacity) is used. |
#82 | Delft Tanthof to Delfgauw | Mon - Sat | 0622 to 1915 | every 30 min | The service from Delfgauw to Delft Station Centrum remains 30 minute frequencies until end of service |
1915 to 0050 | every 60 min | ||||
Sunday | 0822 to 1915 | every 30 min | |||
1915 to 0050 | every 60 min | ||||
#121 | Delft Station Centrum to Zoetermeer Centrum West | Weekdays | 0619 to 0700 | every 30 min | |
0700 to 0900 | every 15 min | ||||
0900 to 1600 | every 30 min | ||||
1600 to 1815 | every 15 min | ||||
1815 to 1844 | every 30 min | ||||
1844 to 0013 | every 60 min | ||||
Saturday | 0719 to 1815 | every 30 min | |||
1815 to 0048 | every 60 min | ||||
Sunday | 0942 to 2348 | every 60 min | |||
· Buurtbus
o Pijnacker’s local bus that uses Mercedes Sprinter vans.
o The bus travels from the sport hall in Delfgauw through Oude Leede, the Klapwijk neighborhood, Pijnacker Centrum, and then to Pijnacker Gemeentekantoor.
o The buses run on weekdays every 60 minutes from 0817 to 1717.
o Fare cost for a one-way trip is €1.80.
o The local bus runs a flexible route and will deviate off of its path to pick up customers at their door if called ahead of time.
Figure 7: Pijnacker’s local bus
c. Bike
The Netherlands has a national bike sharing program called OV-fiets. Using the same OV-chipkaart the bus system uses, you can rent one of the 5,000 bicycles spread out at major railroad and metro stations throughout the country for only €3.00 for 24 hours. In the Pijnacker-Nootdorp region, there are only ten OV-fiets lockers (six at the Pijnacker-Zuid station and four at Pijnacker Centrum).
Figure 8: OV-fiets lockers at Pijnacker-Zuid
Private Transportation
Not everyone uses public transportation to move from place to place. In the Netherlands, there are slightly more bikes than there are people. Many people also own a personal vehicle, but its use is usually for longer trips not otherwise easily performed by public transit.
a. Car
The Pijnacker-Nootdorp area has 225km of roads ranging from residential to major arterials. The roads are under the jurisdiction of the community and the federal government. There are three major access roads into Pijnacker; the N470, the N473, and the N471. The N473 links Pijnacker with Delfgauw and travels through Pijnacker Centrum. The N471 links Pijnacker with Rotterdam and Berkel en Rodenrijs to the south. The N470 links Zoetermeer and Delft by bypassing Pijnacker to the south. At the junction of N470 and N471, there exists a signalized turbo roundabout to provide the only access to Pijnacker for those two arterials.
b. Bike
As in most areas of the Netherlands, biking is a popular form of transportation in Pijnacker-Nootdrop. There is an exclusive cycle path every 500m within the major areas of Pijnacker-Nootdorp. Intersections in the area and near the three Randstadrail stations have more bicycle activity than other areas.
Figure 9: Map of existing and future bike facilities in the area (as of 2010)
Bike facilities are usually separated from other modes of traffic and take the most direct route to locations. For instance, there are only three overpasses for automobiles that cross the Randstadrail line in Pijnacker, but there are seven bike underpasses available.
Figure 10: New Bike/ped tunnel under the Randstadrail line at the intersection of Duikersloot and Klapwijkseweg
Communities in the Netherlands such as Houten, have a 44% bike mode share for short trips that less than 7.5km. Delft, home of a major technical university, and Zoetermeer, a major employment center, are both within a 7km biking distance of Pijnacker Centrum and Pijnacker-Zuid stations (as seen in Figure 11 and Figure 12).
Figure 11: Area within 7km of the Pijnacker Centrum station.
Figure 12: Area within 7km of the Pijnacker-Zuid station.
As with any vehicle, people must have places to park. Bike parking is plentiful at the major social centers, especially at the Randstadrail stations and Nootdorp Centrum. There are approximately 420 covered bicycle parking spaces at Pijnacker-Zuid station, 100 covered spaces at Nootdorp station, and 437 covered bike spaces (as well as 130 secure spaces) at the Pijnacker Centrum station.
Figure 13: Bike parking at Pijnacker-Zuid
c. Pedestrian
Pedestrian infrastructure is important no matter the location being observed since everyone is at one time or another on a trip a pedestrian. Pijnacker is 3.6km in length from north to south and 1.4km from east to west. A person walking to either Pijnacker Centrum or Pijnacker-Zuid to catch the Metro Line E would not have to walk more than 1.2km or 20 minutes. High pedestrian activity occurs at the stations, in the Nootdorp-Centrum shopping area, and along the Oostlaan in Pijnacker (shopping area just west of Pijnacker Centrum station).
Comparisons of Modes
The communities in the Netherlands that we visited do well to promote non-auto modes of transportation. They design the communities to provide easy accessibility to a bicycle or pedestrian facility throughout the urban areas. For a short trip within town, it is usually a shorter distance to walk or bike rather than take your car. For example, to walk from Pijnacker town hall to Haya van Somerenlaan takes exactly the same amount of time as driving your car (as shown in Figure 14 and Figure 15).
Figure 14: Walking from Pijnacker town hall to Haya van Somerenlaan
Figure 15: Driving from Pijnacker town hall to Haya van Somerenlaan
Table 2 shows an example of travel times by mode taken on a weekday departing at 0730. It is interesting to notice that the three closest employment centers are more quickly accessible via public transportation (through the means of bus only passages or a metro) than by car. This is not even considering that when taking the car to Amsterdam or Schiphol, the costs of gas and parking, and additional disincentives of congestion and resulting delays have to be taken into account. The reliability of the national railroad NS is such that the company is being fined by the national government for having even a 96.7% on time performance in 2010 instead of 98%.
Table 2: One way travel times at 7:30am on a weekday from Pijnacker Centrum station to 6 destinations.
Travel times from Pijnacker Centrum in minutes | |||||
NS Stations | Auto | Bike | Transit | Walking | |
Rotterdam Central | 21 | 39 | 16 | 155 | |
Den Haag Central | 20 | 39 | 20 | 154 | |
Zoetermeer | 15 | 15 | 8 | 60 | |
Schiphol | 38 | 145 | 55 | 566 | |
Amsterdam Central | 58 | 186 | 74 | 720 | |
Delft | 15 | 20 | 20 | 79 | |
Conclusion:
The transit options in the Pijnacker Nootdorp community are extensive and range from bike and pedestrian paths to a metro line linking Den Haag and Rotterdam. A great part of the success of any community in the Netherlands is by having a wide range of modes of transportation so that people of any age can have mobility without a personal automobile. Due to the mostly residential land use of Pijnacker other than some greenhouses and industries in Nootdorp, it is crucial that there are good transportation options so that citizens can travel efficiently and quickly from their homes to work, cultural centers, and other attractions.
References:
1. http://Veolia.nl
2. http://bombardier.com/en/corporate/media-centre/press-releases/details?docID=0901260d8000fbbe
4. Sources for table: 9292ov.nl
5. Google Maps
6. http://Ns.nl
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