1. Task Force on Passenger Mobility Statistics 10 April 2014
Item 2 of the agenda
Conclusions of the June 2013 Workshop and follow up actions
- Eurostat new project on Passenger Mobility and Road Traffic
Eurostat Unit E3 - Transport

2. Overview Part I : Eurostat project on Road Traffic
- background & current situation:
voluntary data collection – joint project with ITF & UNECE
- latest developments & new legislative framework
- actions foreseen under new Eurostat project ( )
Part II : Eurostat project on Passenger Mobility
key indicators collected & comparability issues
new policy objectives & new data needs
- conclusions of June 2013 Workshop and the agreed Way Forward
TF Passenger Mobility 10 April 2014 2

3. Part I : Road Traffic - background & current data collection
A voluntary collection of road traffic data by Eurostat based on gentlemen's agreement was launched in 2009 (for reference year 2008 and back to 2005 where possible) via a Pilot Questionnaire on Road Traffic Volumes, attached to the already existing Common Eurostat/ITF/UNECE Web Questionnaire and results have been disseminated on Eurobase;
This voluntary collection has been then modified in 2010 in order to simplify it (reducing the number of tables from 5 to 3) and introduce breakdowns by vehicle technology and type of fuel in order to inter alia monitor the market penetration of electric vehicles and to observe whether there is a trend of shifting towards more environment friendly technologies;
Since then, the voluntary data collection of road traffic volumes measured in VKm is conducted on the basis of the 3 revised tables and the results are disseminated on Eurobase (links provided in the room document).
TF Passenger Mobility 10 April 2014

4. Road Traffic – coverage and comparability problems
Despite the growing need for RT data in order to monitor both European and national transport policies, the level of reporting via this Pilot Questionnaire remains very low
Moreover, the little data which is available is not comparable between countries, as the definitions and methodology have not been harmonised, although some definitions have been included in the EUROSTAT/ITF/UENECE Glossary for transport statistics (
UNECE Task Force on Road Traffic Statistics which met several times in 2006 and 2007 resulted in publication of a "Handbook on statistics on road traffic" ( which contains some recommendations on methodology for the RT data collection, however no official Commission guidelines exist at present
Those coverage and comparability problems led the CGST already in Dec to agree that the optimum solution for obtaining a reliable data and a medium term goal for the RT data collection should be to start preparing a legal act to make the VKm data collection and transmission mandatory
TF Passenger Mobility 10 April 2014

5. Road Traffic - Latest developments & New legal framework
In July 2012, the Commission proposed to the Council and the European Parliament a new legislative package on Roadworthiness and odometers reading. The package has been adopted by the EP on and by the Council on It will soon be published in the Official Journal.
This package makes obligatory for the MSs the establishing of national electronic registers for roadworthiness certificates and odometers reading.
Member States are to “designate a national contact point responsible for the exchange of information with the other Member States and the Commission with regard to the application of this Regulation”.
Valuable data on road traffic should therefore become available for statistical purposes.
More information can be found under the following link :
TF Passenger Mobility 10 April 2014

6. Actions on Road Traffic foreseen under new Eurostat project (2014-2015)
Redesigning of collection, treatment and dissemination of national data on the volumes of road traffic expressed in VKm, taking into account the needs of DG MOVE and feasibility of providing the requested data by the reporting countries, and re-designing tables on VKm which are disseminated on Eurobase (2014).
Report containing an analysis of the methods applied at national level for the measurement of VKm and data available, compiling of an inventory of VKm data and data collection methods (including their description, use of methods for compiling data from several sources, types of breakdowns available, key indicators produced, etc.) and identification of best practises (2014); recommendations on modernising the collection, treatment and dissemination road traffic data (2014);
Drafting of recommendations to MSs on methods of combining the information which will become available from the roadworthiness tests with other data sources (2015);
Drafting of impact assessment and of the legal act regarding transmission of the data on VKm which will become available as result of Odometers package to Eurostat (preparatory work should start in late autumn 2014 with the consultation of stakeholders).
TF Passenger Mobility 10 April 2014

7. Part II : Eurostat project on Passenger Mobility - background
Currently there's no legal base for collecting Passenger Mobility data at EU level;
Most of the EU Member States already collect passenger mobility data via national (and sometimes also regional ) travel surveys ;
However, in some cases they are one off exercises that are not intended to be regularly repeated, while in other countries they are conducted on regular or even continuous basis;
These surveys do not follow a harmonised methodology at European level and are primarily designed to respond to national information needs, which makes the results hardly comparable;
Moreover, several EU Member States are still in the preparatory phase before launching their first national travel survey.
TF Passenger Mobility 10 April 2014

8. Part II : Passenger Mobility Statistics – past Eurostat projects
Over past years Eurostat has conducted several projects on passenger mobility statistics, mainly aimed at regularly updating an inventory of the existing information from national surveys (collected via questionnaires sent by )
The main outputs achieved have been:
an inventory of the national travel surveys existing in the EU Member States, EFTA and candidate countries (reports disseminated on circa);
setting-up and regular updating of a non-harmonised data collection containing main results from the national surveys (not fully disseminated, summary report);
methodological reports describing the main features of the national travel surveys as well as some recommendations for harmonisation of definitions, minimum set of common variables and other survey characteristics.
The latest versions of those deliverables dating from January 2012 are available on Eurostat Transport Unit section of CIRCABC:
TF Passenger Mobility 10 April 2014

9. Key PM indicators collected in past years by Eurostat:
Share of trip makers in the total reference population
Average number of trips/person/day
Average travel distance (km) /person/day
Average total travel time (min)/person/day
Average travel time & distance by purpose of travel
Average travel time & distance by mode of travel
Daily trips modal share
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10. Problems with comparability of national results
Due to inconsistencies in coverage:
Modes of transport (passenger cars only, etc.)
Distance classes (0-50 km, km, etc.)
Survey frequency (continuous, every years or less often)
Due to inconsistencies in the compilation of indicators:
Reference population (e.g. age groups)
Reference period (days of the week)
Breakdown variables (vehicle technology, travel purposes, etc.)
Result : at present it is not possible to compare national results
nor to have a picture of passenger mobility patterns in Europe..
Examples of inconsistencies:
Differences on coverage (e.g. BG covers passenger mobility on buses and coaches only), lack of ‘strict’ definition of target population (e.g. one element is the age group covered), lack of common definition of concepts (e.g. definition of trip), variety of sampling frames 10

11. New policy objectives call for new indicators
Recent developments in the EU transport and environmental policies have set new policy objectives for passenger transport in the EU countries:
Reducing pollution and congestion in the cities by moving towards more sustainable urban mobility and gradually phasing out conventionally-fuelled cars from the cities
Shifting from road to more environment-friendly modes such as rail and waterways for medium distance mobility (between 300 and 1000 km)
Minimum set of comparable and policy relevant passenger mobility indicators regularly available across Europe is indispensable to monitor these developments:
Transport activity in urban areas, expressed in pkm, for passenger cars and vans, P2W, buses, tram, metro and rail; broken down by vehicle technology.
Transport activity by distance class (<300, , 1000< km) in pkm for all passenger modes: passenger cars and vans, P2W, coaches, rail, aviation and IWW. 11

12. Conclusions of the Eurostat/DG MOVE Workshop on Passenger Mobility of 17 Juin 2013
Participants: ESTAT, DG MOVE, JRC, DG REGIO, MSs and candidate countries, UNECE, ITF/OECD, researchers and academia, including experts from SHANTI and OPTIMISM
Main conclusions from the Round Table discussion:
NTS are an indispensable source of detailed information for modelling, planning and policy making at regional, national and international level
Significant resources are already attributed to travel surveys at national level on a regular basis
Unfortunately current practices diverge greatly as they were designed to meet the national stakeholders' needs, making cross-border analysis almost impossible
There is room for a more optimal use of resources, by making results to some extent comparable also at European and international level.
Full documentation from the Workshop is available at: 12

13. Eurostat/DG MOVE Workshop on Passenger Mobility
Agreement on the "Way Froward":
Set-up a Task Force/Drafting Committee for a Manual on PM statistics to:
Identify a limited set of common indicators, which all MSs should produce on a regular basis,
Develop common methodological definitions that will ensure some degree of harmonisation of National Travel Surveys and comparability of national results,
Draft Guidelines/Manual on Passenger Mobility Statistics, taking into account also the EU data needs.
Volunteers for participating to the Task Force: SE, UK, DK (DTU), DE, NL, AT, FR, BE, IT, RO
Timing : 10 April and 23 October 2014 (second meeting to be confirmed)
Moreover, Eurostat proposed to examine the possibility to provide financial help in form of grants. Countries that already expressed interest in grants: BE, SI, PL, EE, CZ, SK, IT, NL, RO, HU, EL and Kosovo (list not final). 13

14. Thank you for your attention !
Actions on Passenger Mobility foreseen under new Eurostat project ( )
Development of a Eurostat Manual/Guidelines on Passenger Mobility Statistics including a set of key common PM indicators, accompanied by harmonised definitions and methodological recommendations to ensure data comparability; based on input from DG MOVE and the PM Task Force as well as analysis of existing national data and methods (first draft planned for summer 2014 and final version for January 2015);
Updating of an inventory of National Travel Surveys (both metadata and mains results) by means of questionnaires to be sent to all MSs once a year (first round in May 2014); and publishing a methodological report with comparative analyses (also once a year); (please provide updated contact details and make sure your country replies in time);
Providing methodological assistance to countries wishing to implement Eurostat recommendations, incl. possibility of on-the-spot assistance (mainly 2015);
Providing financial help in form of grants for countries wishing to launch their first pilot survey or to modernise the existing NST in accordance with Eurostat Guidelines (call for proposals planned to be launched in spring 2015; subject to budget availability).
Thank you for your attention !