1.         INDICATOR

  (a)        Name:  Distance travelled per capita by mode of transport.

(b)        Brief Definition:  The number of kilometres travelled per person in a given year by different modes of transport.

(c)        Unit of Measurement:  Kilometers per year.

(d)        Placement in the CSD Indicator Set:  Economic/Consumption and Production Patterns/ Transportation.

2.         POLICY RELEVANCE

(a)        Purpose:  This indicator can contribute to monitoring the environmental impact and sustainability of the systems for personal mobility in a particular country or area.

(b)        Relevance to Sustainable/Unsustainable Development (theme/sub-theme):  Travel is an essential part of the economic and social life of a country.  Non-motorised travel has low environmental impact, and due to the level of physical exertion involved, also brings health benefits.  However, it is only suitable for local journeys.  Motorised travel is the only suitable means of travelling longer distances, but has greater environmental and social impacts, such as pollution, global warming, and accidents.  Sustainability implies using the most appropriate mode of transport for the journey in question and decoupling travel from economic development.  Policies are needed which reduce the need for travel, support a shift towards less environmentally damaging means, provide incentives for changes in lifestyle, increase safety, and improve the standard of public transport (transit).

(c)        International Conventions and Agreements:  Not applicable, see section 3 (d) below.

(d)        International Targets/Recommended Standards:  No international targets have been established.

(e)        Linkages to Other Indicators:  This mobility indicator is linked to GDP per capita, time spent on travelling, percent of population in urban areas, urban transit and automobile use, fossil fuel use by automobiles, infrastructure expenditure and ambient concentrations of pollutants in urban areas.  Various other indicators of land use and settlement patterns are also related.

3.         METHODOLOGICAL DESCRIPTION

(a)        Underlying Definitions and Concepts:  The aim of this indicator is to quantify the use of different modes of transport by people (passengers).  The indicator should be broken down into the following modes of transport: walking, cycling, passenger cars, motorcycles and mopeds, buses and coaches, train, ship, and plane.  For developing countries, other means of transport (donkey, ox-cart, rickshaw, etc.) may need to be considered.  A further breakdown by purpose would provide useful additional information.

(b)        Measurement Methods:  Total passenger-kilometers travelled per year divided by the total population, according to the different modes of transport.

(c)        Limitations of the Indicator:  The reliability of passenger-kilometre statistics, with the exception of bus and train, leaves much to be desired.  The indicator has an inbuilt bias against the longer distance modes of transport, especially planes.  To some extent this can be offset by splitting the indicator by purpose (shopping, travel to school or work, professional travel, pleasure).  Ideally, the indicator would measure the distance travelled by the population of a country both within and outside their country. In practice, national passenger-kilometer statistics normally include movements of all people within the national territory (regardless of their normal place of residence), and exclude movements outside their territory.  This indicator measures only distance travelled by passengers and does not cover goods transport.  In order to monitor efficiency changes in the transport sector, an indicator such as transport performance divided by vehicle performance (tonne-kilometers/vehicle-kilometers) could be considered.

(d)        Status of the Methodology:  An agreed methodology at the international level concerning passenger transport statistics has not yet been established and no specific projects on this direction are known at present.  National definitions are being used.

(e)        Alternative Definitions/Indicators:  An alternative would be to use number of trips for different purposes.  This would counter the bias against longer distance modes.

4.         ASSESSMENT OF DATA

(a)        Data needed to Compile the Indicator: 

(i)         Passenger-kilometer data by means of transport (as indicated in section 3(a) above);

(ii)       Population.

(b)        National and International Data Availability and Sources:  Passenger-kilometer data for at least some modes of transport, and population data are regularly available for most countries at the national level; and for some countries, at the sub-national level.  Both types of data are compiled by and available from national statistical offices and various professional organizations.

(c)        Data references: 

Eurostat: Transport Annual Statistics.

ECMT:   Statistical Trends in Transport.

UNECE: Annual Bulletin of Transport Statistics for Europe.

International Road Federation: World Road Statistics.

5.         AGENCIES INVOVED IN THE DEVELOPENT OF THE INDICATOR

(a)        Lead Agency:  The lead agency is Eurostat (the Statistical Office of the European Communities).  The contact point is Ms. Inger Oehman, fax no, (35-2) 4301-37278.

(b)        Other Contributing Organizations:  Other organizations involved in the indicator development include International Road Transport Union (IRU) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).

6.         REFERENCES

(a)        Readings:

“EU transport in figures”, Statistical Pocketbook, EU Commission, 1999.    

“Transport and Environment – Statistics for the Transport and Environment Reporting Mechanism (TERM) for the European Union”, 2000.

“Are we moving in the right direction? Indicators on transport and the environment integration in the EU”, European Environment Agency, 2000.

(b)               Internet site:  http://europa.eu.int/comm/eurostat