Our tips for avoiding traffic jams in the Netherlands

For many Dutch commuters daily traffic jams are a major annoyance. After all, they take so much time that could be spent in a more enjoyable and meaningful way… With BB&L we know you don’t like to wait. So the only one waiting is your rental car – and that’s for you to arrive at the airport! You just jump right in. After that, it’s just a matter of avoiding the traffic jams. And here’s five tips to do it:

1. Avoid the rush hours
The morning rush hour in the Netherlands starts at roughly 7:00 and lasts till 9:00 in the morning. The evening peak lasts from mid-five to six thirty. Because these peaks are so predictable, they are also easy to avoid. You’ll have the whole road to yourself, if you make your appointments outside of the peak times and avoid the crowds. Easy peasy!

2. Avoid the highways
The Dutch word for ‘highway’ is ‘snelweg’, which translates roughly into ‘fast road’. The word says it all: if there are no traffic jams, the snelweg is the fastest way to go around. But if your navigation system tells you there’s a jam up ahead, taking a little detour might be an option to save time. Sometimes it even helps to take an onramp later to skip a part of the jam. And you’ll see more of the Netherlands while you’re at it!

3. Think of better meeting points
There are plenty of parts of Holland where there’s hardly ever any traffic jams. Zeeland, Groningen, Friesland, a huge chunk of Noord-Holland… So if you’re planning an important appointment, you might as well try to find a meeting point in a jam-free zone. That way, all of you can avoid the traffic.

4. Minimize your face to face appointments
A dentist can’t fill cavities from home, and a paver obviously works on location as well. But thanks to the Internet, and the invention of conference calling, most of us can do with less face to face appointments. Making clever use of modern communication options, you could just be drinking a nice cup of coffee until the worst traffic jams are over. And still getting all of your work done. Now that’s a win-win.

5. Please use the express lane
So, this is a very practical one. While driving on the highway, do you spot a green arrow on the matrix sign above the road shoulder? If so, the emergency lane serves as an express lane and it is allowed to switch to and from that lane over the continuous line. The same rules apply to these express lanes, as to the other lanes on the highway. Is there a red ‘X’ above the lane? Then switch back to the normal highway lanes again. Making use of all of the lanes efficiently helps us avoid traffic jams altogether.

Be zen about that jam
None of these tips apply to your situation? In that case you’d better make the time you spend in traffic jams more fun. Take some nice sing along music with you, put on an audio book, do a language course or plan your next vacation while on the road… Or make someone else happy and call your mother from the car! Hands free of course. You could also try to be very Zen about the jam and enjoy your daily dose of forced mindfulness. Remember: you’ll have forgotten about the jam as soon as you’re on your way again.