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Transport networks in major urban areas are becoming more and more vulnerable to unforeseen disturbances in transport networks, like incidents. For the near future, we expect an increasing number of incidents with a large impact due to the overall increase of the traffic load. In this paper the hypothesis is tested that, if no measures are taken, the impact of incidents increases in the future and, therefore, the vulnerability of the road network increases. It is shown that the current network of the area The Hague-Rotterdam in the Netherlands is already vulnerable. If the demand increases, the increase in total travel time is more than linear with the increase in demand in the situation without an incident. The impact of incidents also increases when the level of demand increases. This results in the overall conclusion that it is necessary to make the road network more robust.

The Dutch road network is, like many other road networks in the world, congested in the morning and evening peaks. The locations of congestion are quite often the same; this makes it relatively easy to take the delay of this regular congestion into account when planning a trip. However, as a result of disturbances, also unexpectedly large delays occur. If no measures are taken, the Dutch road network, especially in major urban areas, is becoming more and more vulnerable to disturbances like incidents. This PhD study proposes a framework for robustness analysis that includes definitions, indicators and a set of measures that can be applied to make the road network robust against incidents. Furthermore, a method is developed by which robust road networks can be designed given these measures. The method combines expert knowledge with advanced modelling techniques. The quality of the method is proven by applying it to a small test network. Finally, this thesis shows how the method can be applied to a large realistic network of Amsterdam and surroundings. The practical value of the research appears from the fact that parts of it have already been used in projects for the ANWB, Verkeer en Waterstaat, de Raad voor Verkeer en Waterstaat, DVS, de stadregio Amsterdam en Bart Egeter Advies. This research is supported by the TU Delft, TNO, NGI, Transumo and TRAIL.

There is a growing awareness that road networks, especially in major urban areas, are becoming more and more vulnerable to unforeseen disturbances like incidents because of the fact that the level of congestion keeps growing. Therefore, robustness measures have to be taken. In this paper the robust road network design problem is presented as well as a solution algorithm for solving the problem. The solution algorithm combines expert knowledge with advanced modeling techniques. In this way the method can be applied to large scale networks. This paper shows the quality of the algorithm for a test network.