Are we using public transport more than we used to? And which cities suffer from a high level of night-time traffic noise? The latest report from the European Environment Agency provides some interesting transport figures showing how urban transport differs across Europe
Cities are changing with rapid transformations in urban transport in some parts of Europe fuelling this, claims a new report by the European Environment Agency.
The latest Transport and Environment Reporting Mechanism (Term) report from the European Environment Agency provides not only a comprehensive analysis of transport's effect on the environment but also brings together a variety of data showing how transport indicators have changed in our cities.
We've picked out just some of the many traffic indicators analysed in the report below.
*How does the transport used differ by area?*
Using data from the The European Metropolitan Transport Authorities (EMTA) for a selection of metropolitan city areas, the report gives an interesting insight into the percentage of travellers using a particular type of transportation. The chart above shows the data for 2011.
The EMTA found that metropolitan areas ('the group of municipalities or administrative units which have strong links on mobility, the provision of urban services, etc') commonly have "higher levels of car use than main city areas", with longer commuting distances and difficulties in providing convenient public transport and widespread accessibility.
Although the chart above does not provide a breakdown of motorised modes by type, you can still see the modal split for each of the 13 metropolitan areas assessed (according to the report, the lack of representation of certain cities reflects data availability for both 2009 and 2011).
The EEA state that the "importance of the metro system is clear" in cities such as Madrid and Stockholm. The report also highlights how walking and cycling have seen considerable increases in certain areas. The modal share of walking and cycling in the metropolitan city area of Paris, for example, has risen from 34.2% in 2009 to 40.3% in 2011.
Air transport is the sector which has seen the greatest growth, increasing by 25% in the EU over the period 2000 to 2011. However, according to the report, total passenger kilometres fell by nearly 9% between 2007 and 2009 and despite an increase in 2011, the number of flight movements in 2012 dropped by 3% and are forecast to have declined by a further 0.5 to 3.6% in 2013.
*Which cities suffer most from night-time traffic noise?*
The report also highlights the issue of night-time traffic noise - more than a quarter of the inhabitants of Sofia, Luxembourg, Paris and Tallinn are exposed to levels above WHO limits, according to data on 17 European capitals.
The EEA state that despite the data for 2012 being incomplete - only 40% of the expected data for last year has been reported - that at least 100 million Europeans are exposed to daily average road traffic noise levels that are "detrimental to health".
*Commuting time spent*
Although the data they used from this section is from 2009, the study shows that people in London are 23% likely to have a commute of more than an hour, which is only beaten by 32% for Budapest.
As you might expect, the larger cities and capitals of those surveyed in the EU, Croatia and Turkey generally had greater commuting times with Paris, Warsaw, Bucharest, Budapest and London all having over half of commutes to working lasting more than half an hour.
However, as the report says:
"In general, as Banister (2008) stresses, time spent travelling may have remained consistent as cities have spread but distances and speeds have increased substantially. One can also note that cities and metropolitan areas have grown as a consequence of faster modes of transport and general affordability combined with a general lack of measures curbing any undue impacts on the environment."
*How has our exposure to air pollution changed?*
An analysis of air quality standards in the EU published earlier this year by the EEA showed that up to a third of Europeans living in cities are exposed to air pollutant levels exceeding EU air quality standards.
The image above, published in the latest Term report, is used by the EEA to illustrate the differences between the EU limit/target values and the WHO guidelines; "the proportions decrease when considering the limits or targets set out in EU legislation because they are in certain cases less strict than WHO guidelines".
Road traffic has been named by the EEA as contributing significantly to breaches of air quality standards in many cities and urban areas. The EEA state that "while considerable progress has been made in the past 20 years in improving urban air quality, a number of challenges remain."
*Price of transport*
Since 1996 there have been increases in the cost all forms of passenger transport within EU countries, while the price of cars has decreased by 14 percentage points since 2005.
The report suggests this is down to a mix of government spending bumping up prices and general market forces. However, the cost of fuel, which is displayed in the chart below as the "Operation of personal transport equipment" has increased by 14 percentage points since 2005, despite a sharp fall in 2009.
Air transport prices are also interesting, rising and then dropping slightly between 1996 and 2010. They now stand at 6 percentage points more than 2005 prices after two years of sustained growth.
A selection of the data from the Term 2013 report can be found in the downloadable spreadsheet below. Can you do anything interesting with it?
*Download the data*
• DATA: download the full spreadsheet
*More open data*
Data journalism and data visualisations from the Guardian
*Development and aid data*
• Search the world's global development data with our gateway
*Can you do more with this data?*
• Contact us at data@guardian.co.uk
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• Like us on Facebook* Reported by guardian.co.uk 13 hours ago.
Cities are changing with rapid transformations in urban transport in some parts of Europe fuelling this, claims a new report by the European Environment Agency.
The latest Transport and Environment Reporting Mechanism (Term) report from the European Environment Agency provides not only a comprehensive analysis of transport's effect on the environment but also brings together a variety of data showing how transport indicators have changed in our cities.
We've picked out just some of the many traffic indicators analysed in the report below.
*How does the transport used differ by area?*
Using data from the The European Metropolitan Transport Authorities (EMTA) for a selection of metropolitan city areas, the report gives an interesting insight into the percentage of travellers using a particular type of transportation. The chart above shows the data for 2011.
The EMTA found that metropolitan areas ('the group of municipalities or administrative units which have strong links on mobility, the provision of urban services, etc') commonly have "higher levels of car use than main city areas", with longer commuting distances and difficulties in providing convenient public transport and widespread accessibility.
Although the chart above does not provide a breakdown of motorised modes by type, you can still see the modal split for each of the 13 metropolitan areas assessed (according to the report, the lack of representation of certain cities reflects data availability for both 2009 and 2011).
The EEA state that the "importance of the metro system is clear" in cities such as Madrid and Stockholm. The report also highlights how walking and cycling have seen considerable increases in certain areas. The modal share of walking and cycling in the metropolitan city area of Paris, for example, has risen from 34.2% in 2009 to 40.3% in 2011.
Air transport is the sector which has seen the greatest growth, increasing by 25% in the EU over the period 2000 to 2011. However, according to the report, total passenger kilometres fell by nearly 9% between 2007 and 2009 and despite an increase in 2011, the number of flight movements in 2012 dropped by 3% and are forecast to have declined by a further 0.5 to 3.6% in 2013.
*Which cities suffer most from night-time traffic noise?*
The report also highlights the issue of night-time traffic noise - more than a quarter of the inhabitants of Sofia, Luxembourg, Paris and Tallinn are exposed to levels above WHO limits, according to data on 17 European capitals.
The EEA state that despite the data for 2012 being incomplete - only 40% of the expected data for last year has been reported - that at least 100 million Europeans are exposed to daily average road traffic noise levels that are "detrimental to health".
*Commuting time spent*
Although the data they used from this section is from 2009, the study shows that people in London are 23% likely to have a commute of more than an hour, which is only beaten by 32% for Budapest.
As you might expect, the larger cities and capitals of those surveyed in the EU, Croatia and Turkey generally had greater commuting times with Paris, Warsaw, Bucharest, Budapest and London all having over half of commutes to working lasting more than half an hour.
However, as the report says:
"In general, as Banister (2008) stresses, time spent travelling may have remained consistent as cities have spread but distances and speeds have increased substantially. One can also note that cities and metropolitan areas have grown as a consequence of faster modes of transport and general affordability combined with a general lack of measures curbing any undue impacts on the environment."
*How has our exposure to air pollution changed?*
An analysis of air quality standards in the EU published earlier this year by the EEA showed that up to a third of Europeans living in cities are exposed to air pollutant levels exceeding EU air quality standards.
The image above, published in the latest Term report, is used by the EEA to illustrate the differences between the EU limit/target values and the WHO guidelines; "the proportions decrease when considering the limits or targets set out in EU legislation because they are in certain cases less strict than WHO guidelines".
Road traffic has been named by the EEA as contributing significantly to breaches of air quality standards in many cities and urban areas. The EEA state that "while considerable progress has been made in the past 20 years in improving urban air quality, a number of challenges remain."
*Price of transport*
Since 1996 there have been increases in the cost all forms of passenger transport within EU countries, while the price of cars has decreased by 14 percentage points since 2005.
The report suggests this is down to a mix of government spending bumping up prices and general market forces. However, the cost of fuel, which is displayed in the chart below as the "Operation of personal transport equipment" has increased by 14 percentage points since 2005, despite a sharp fall in 2009.
Air transport prices are also interesting, rising and then dropping slightly between 1996 and 2010. They now stand at 6 percentage points more than 2005 prices after two years of sustained growth.
A selection of the data from the Term 2013 report can be found in the downloadable spreadsheet below. Can you do anything interesting with it?
*Download the data*
• DATA: download the full spreadsheet
*More open data*
Data journalism and data visualisations from the Guardian
*Development and aid data*
• Search the world's global development data with our gateway
*Can you do more with this data?*
• Contact us at data@guardian.co.uk
*
• Follow us on Twitter
• Like us on Facebook* Reported by guardian.co.uk 13 hours ago.