Claudia Boutkam (21) from Oostvoorne, a village in the Dutch province of South Holland, has reached hundreds of people with her graduation research on the new Blankenburg connection. For her bachelor's thesis at Erasmus School of Economics, she pulled out all the stops: she distributed five thousand flyers, went out on the streets, and used social media. Her efforts were rewarded with an impressive 1,369 completed surveys.
The toll tunnel, which links the A20 near Vlaardingen with the A15 near Rozenburg since the end of last year, is a daily topic for Claudia, as she states in an interview with the Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad. She regularly takes the bus through the tunnel to Woudestein Campus in Rotterdam. Her friends and family also talk about it a lot. ‘It comes up at many occasions.’
Most respondents positive about the tunnel
For her research, Claudia focused on the impact of the tunnel on the well-being of local residents. She examined factors such as living environment, mobility, economy, and social cohesion in six municipalities surrounding the connection. The results show that 83 percent of respondents are positive about the tunnel, despite concerns about the loss of natural habitats and inadequate toll payments.
Claudia also received many comments about practical problems, such as the lack of a bicycle tunnel, increased traffic congestion near Maassluis, and the continued heavy traffic on the N57 and A4 roads. She has since brought her findings to the attention of Rijkswaterstaat (the Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management), among others.
Although her thesis will be completed at the end of July, Claudia is not yet finished with the topic. ‘You should really redo this research in a few years,’ she says. She is continuing her studies with a master's specialisation in international economics.
- More information
Read here the full interview with Claudia on the website of Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch).
For more information, please contact Ronald de Groot, Media & Public Relations Officer at Erasmus School of Economics: rdegroot@ese.eur.nl, mobile: +31 6 53 641 846
