Overview
European integration has seen dramatic changes in mobility patterns to meet developments in economic activities. However, the statistical tools to monitor these patterns and support policy-making have changed little. In particular, there is a lack of data on international flows, Trans-European Networks, new logistic services, transport chains and intermodality. Moreover, data availability has decreased due to deregulation and the abolition of border controls.
INFOSTAT aimed to prepare the framework of statistics for a European Transport policy Information System (ETIS). ETIS is intended to support decision-makers in both public and private sectors, in understanding changes in mobility, logistic patterns and the effects of policy measures.
Funding
Results
INFOSTAT has achieved:
- a definition of the principles and concepts for ETIS;
- an assessment of the adequacy of existing data;
- a prioritisation of the data gaps requiring immediate action.
The basic principle of ETIS is to support European policy formulation, using an open structure that is complementary to national and other information systems (and consistent where possible). It will handle new statistical concepts such as transport chains, intermodality, families of commodities with the same logistical requirements, performance indicators for transport quality, congestion and environmental hotspots, corridors and networks, and the accessibility of regions and cities.
The most significant data gaps and harmonisation needs concern:
- the social determinants of transport;
- origin-destination flows, especially for transit flows and transport chains;
- intermodal transport demand;
- infrastructure for transport networks;
- data on transport prices and reliability;
- data on the economic and land-use impacts of transport.
A pilot database has been developed to demonstrate the feasibility of ETIS, focusing on freight movements along transport chains.
Policy implications
INFOSTAT has recommended immediate action in the following areas, in order to support policy-making in the short term:
- the collection of origin-destination data for both passenger and goods transport at various geographic levels of aggregation;
- establishing the requirements and a data bank for data related to major infrastructure projects;
- assessing the means of collecting data on intermodal flows, particularly from private sector companies, by exploiting telematics and electronic data interchange;
- reviewing the existing INTRASTAT system for the collection of trade statistics.
In the longer term, ETIS is intended to support any transport policy decision that has a European dimension, notably the development of the Common Transport Policy and the Trans-European Transport Network.