The importance of alternative routes for the robustness of a road network

Abstract

In this paper the importance of alternative routes for the robustness of a road network is examined. A case study for the area of Rotterdam in the Netherlands showed that if nobody is informed about an incident on the motorways and/or nobody has the opportunity to change their routes, delays of more than one hour can easily occur. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that it is beneficial to have at least 1 route alternative, but that multiple route alternatives are not strictly.