www.TransformingTransportation.org

Data in Support of Urban TransportPolicy: Problems and Way Forward

Jerome Pourbaix Head of Policy, UITP Presented at Transforming Transportation 2015

UITP

DATA IN SUPPORT OF URBAN

TRANSPORT POLICY:

PROBLEMS AND WAY FORWARD

JEROME POURBAIX

FOCUS

Collection and use of data in support of urban

transport policy:

- Comparing performance of urban transport

between different cities and mobility patterns

- Measuring societal costs and benefits of urban

transport

- Monitoring changes in urban transport patterns

Data used for these purposes usually are collected for

other purposes, by many different players.

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0

10.000

20.000

30.000

40.000

50.000

60.000

70.000

80.000

90.000

100.000

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Proportion of trips made on foot, by bicycle and on public transport

R²=0,77

Annual energ

y c

onsum

ption

(megajo

ule

s/i

nhabitant)

ENERGY CONSUMPTION FOR

PASSENGER TRANSPORT

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900

R²=0,54

Number of parking spaces per 1000 jobs in the CBD

Public t

ransport

mark

et

share

(m

echanis

ed &

moto

rised t

rips)

PARKING POLICY AND URBAN

TRANSPORT

URBAN MOBILITY PATTERNS

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SOURCES OF DATA

- Transport operators (public transport, taxi, car

sharing, etc.)

- Local, regional and national governments (various

departments and agencies)

- Research centres (universities, consultancies, etc.)

- Telecom operators, service providers, banks, …

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PROBLEMS

- Geographical scale

- Availability and reliability of data

- Comparability of data

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GEOGRAPHICAL SCALE

Problems:

- Need to compare areas that have similar functions.

- Frequent mismatch between functional and

administrative areas.

- Multiplicity of sources at metropolitan level

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Way forward:

- Development of methodologies

for definition of comparable

functional areas (cf. OECD, EU)

- Development of urban transport

accounts

AVAILABILITY AND

RELIABILITY OF DATA Problems:

- High costs of data collection

- Commercial sensitivity of data

- Methodological issues

Way forward:

- Promotion of open data strategies

- Inclusion of data provision in service contracts

- Provision of financial incentives for data collection

- Devise new indicators

- Exploit the potential of new technologies UITP 9

HOUSEHOLD TRAVEL SURVEYS:

UPDATE FREQUENCY

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• London and Vienna: annual

• Turin: two years

• Berlin, Hamburg, Munich: six years

• Rome, Milan, Budapest, Brussels: ten years

COMPARABILITY OF DATA

Problems:

- Definitions reflect local circumstances, and local/national standards.

- Different hypotheses/bias behind different data collection methodologies.

- Unwillingness to break time-series.

Way forward:

- Develop methods for post-harmonisation of data (through explicitation of underlying hypotheses).

- Progressive diffusion of harmonised methodologies and definitions.

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CONCLUSION

Agenda for international associations and agencies

Developing guidance and building capacity for:

- Translation of objectives into indicators,

- Choosing relevant data collection methods,

- Developing of observatories of mobility and local

transport accounts

- Exploitation of new technologies

- Post-harmonsation of data

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THANK YOU FOR YOUR

ATTENTION

Jerome Pourbaix

Head of Policy

International Association of Public Transport

UITP

jerome.pourbaix@uitp.org

www.uitp.org

@jp_uitp