Online Traffic Management Results
Do you remember when you first launched a digital campaign to inform road users about disruption caused by roadworks?
Did that feel like a logical step at the time, or were you still trying to build support for digital communication within the traffic management plan?
Digital traffic management has come a long way in recent years. Whereas campaigns used to focus primarily on maximising reach, the emphasis today is much more on behavioural change, the perception of disruption and measurable impact. In this blog, we share the experience we have gained from hundreds of campaigns and show you what concrete results you can expect today.
What do we mean by Online Traffic Management?
Before we go into detail, here is a brief explanation of Online Traffic Management (OTM). As far as we are concerned, we might as well just call this digital traffic management. There are many different terms in use in the market, but ultimately it all boils down to the same goal: helping road users make the right choices at the right time.
Our approach consists of four parts:
- Providing advance information
We inform various target groups about future disruption caused by roadworks, events or road closure - Routelab
With Routelab we predict how navigation systems will respond to temporary traffic measures. This provides advance insight into traffic flows and potential bottlenecks.
- Real-time navigation updates during roadworks
Whilst roadworks are in progress, we ensure that the most widely used navigation systems remain up to date. This improves safety for road workers and ensures that road users are immediately directed to the correct route. - Analysis and evaluation
Afterwards, we analyse both the sentiment of the target audiences reached and traffic data, such as congestion and delays, based on Floating Car Data.
From reach to evidence-based KPIs
In the early days of digital advance notifications, the focus was mainly on reach. The more people you reached, the more successful the campaign was considered to be.
Fortunately, we are seeing this picture change. Increasingly, campaigns are being assessed on the basis of KPIs that genuinely reflect effectiveness. Consider, for example:
- A more positive perception of disruption among local residents and commuters.
- X% of road users indicate they were informed in advance;
- X% reduction in traffic during the works;
- Fewer delays on critical routes;
Is the effect of digital measures always fully measurable and directly attributable to a single campaign? The honest answer is: no.
Traffic behaviour is influenced by a number of factors. Nevertheless, in practice we can clearly see that a smart combination of physical and digital measures leads
to changes in travel behaviour.
Case study: A12 Concrete IJssel Bridge
We saw a good example of this during the works on the A12 Concrete IJssel Bridge.
On Wednesday 8 April, it emerged that motorists were driving an average of seven minutes faster than usual during the morning rush hour. At that point, the temporary traffic management system was not yet fully operational, although the communication campaign announcing the start of the works had already begun.
The conclusion? Many road users had adjusted their behaviour in advance:
- Working from home;
- Travelling at a different time.
And that, precisely, was the aim of the campaign. The image below shows that it was a lot quieter on Wednesday 8 April.
What do the figures show?
On average, 79.9% of all respondents in 2025 and 2026 stated that they had been informed in advance about upcoming roadworks. This is a strong KPI that can increasingly be used in tenders and evaluations. This shifts the focus from:
- How many people have we reached?
to:
- Have we actually influenced behaviour?
Could physical measures then be phased out?
No. Our research actually shows that physical and digital communication reinforce one another. Road users still obtain information from:
- Roadside signs;
- Navigation apps;
- Social media and online advertisements.
Physical measures therefore remain essential. However, we do see clear differences between types of projects. In municipal projects, physical communication often still plays a more dominant role in road users’ information-seeking behaviour. In projects run by Rijkswaterstaat, on the other hand, we see that digital channels are used more frequently. Speed and journey distance may play an important role in this.
Image: Survey results (A4)
The use of digital traffic management
We believe that digital traffic measures should now be an integral part of the communication strategy surrounding roadworks, for both small and large-scale projects.
Of course, the optimal approach varies from project to project. The right mix of navigation, social media, advertisements, real-time updates and analysis depends on:
- The environment;
- The target audience;
- Impact of disruption;
- Project duration;
- Desired behavioural change.
We advise project managers, environmental managers and traffic managers on this on a daily basis. Curious to find out what this could mean for your project?
