City statistics – transport and travel patterns

Last updated: 5 November 2024.

Highlights

This subchapter on transport is 1 of 9 thematic subchapters that provide a comprehensive glossary of variable definitions used within city statistics. The glossary is designed to ensure a clear understanding and interpretation of data disseminated by Eurostat, thereby improving the clarity of data requirements for the providers of these statistics in national statistical offices, while supporting the standardisation of statistical concepts across Europe.

This subchapter forms part of Eurostat’s City statistics manual.

Transport

Table 19: Transport

Eurostat, together with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the International Transport Forum (ITF), has published a Glossary for transport statistics – 5th edition.

According to the glossary, a passenger car is a road motor vehicle, other than a moped or a motorcycle, intended for the carriage of passengers and designed to seat no more than 9 people (including the driver). The term passenger car also covers microcars (small cars which, depending on legislation in individual EU countries, may need no license/permit to be driven and/or benefit from lower vehicle taxation), taxis and other hired passenger cars, provided that they have no more than 9 seats. This category may also include vans designed and used primarily for the transport of passengers, as well as ambulances and motor homes. Excluded are light goods road vehicles, as well as motor coaches, buses and mini-buses/mini-coaches.

The number of private cars registered (TT1057V) refers to the number of passenger cars registered for private use, that is, by natural persons, not legal persons (businesses or enterprises); taxis or hire cars registered by enterprises are therefore excluded. This statistic is a count of the total number of vehicles that are officially registered and licensed for private use within a city on 1 January of the reference year.

The number of deaths in road accidents (TT1060V) refers to individuals who are killed outright or who die within 30 days as a result of a road traffic accident. This statistic is a count of the number of deaths, including drivers and passengers (of motorised road vehicles and bicycles), as well as pedestrians involved in road accidents; a death is excluded if the competent authority declares the cause of death to be suicide. All EU countries are required to adhere to the 30-day standard established by the European Conference of Ministers of Transport (now known as the ITF, which is part of the OECD). As such, any fatalities that occur within the first 30 days of a new reference year (following an accident in December) should be counted in the previous year’s statistics. For optimal geographical comparability, the preferred data sources are police records supplemented by hospital data.

According to the UNECE glossary, a bicycle network includes (bi)cycle lanes and (bi)cycle tracks

a (bi)cycle lane is a part of a carriageway designated for use by cyclists and distinguished from the rest of the roadway by longitudinal road markings.
a (bi)cycle track is an independent road or part of a road designated for use by cyclists and sign-posted as such. A cycle track is separated from other roads or other parts of the same road by structural means.

The length of a bicycle network (dedicated cycle paths and lanes) (TT1079V) is the distance, in kilometres (km), between the start and end points. If 1 of the directions is longer than the other, then the length is calculated as the sum of half of the distances for each direction.

The cost of a combined monthly ticket (all modes of public transport) for 5–10 km in the central zone (TT1080V) is defined as the cost, in euro (€), of a combined monthly public transport ticket covering all modes of transport within a 5–10 km range in the central zone of a city

if the price of a monthly ticket changes during the course of the reference year, then the price should be calculated as the weighted average
in cities with only 1 mode of transport, the price is calculated as the actual ticket price
for cities where public transport is free, the price is 0
if a city doesn’t have public transport, then no record is included (as the variable is not applicable).

The cost of a taxi ride of 5 km to the centre during daytime (TT1081V) represents the average cost of a 5 km taxi ride to the city centre during daytime hours. Since taxi service fees can vary based on different providers and factors such as waiting time (for example, due to traffic congestion), the cost should be estimated using an average, such as the mean.

Legislation in force and other documents