On 11-12 April 2024, UIC participated in the 10th ITF Transport Statistics Meeting organised by the International Transport Forum (ITF) at the OECD headquarters in Paris.
The annual ITF meeting on transport statistics brings together experts from various OECD member countries, as well as international governmental and non-governmental organisations. The objective is to identify common challenges and solutions to a range of transport statistics-related issues, within a more coherent and efficient international framework.
In a session specifically dedicated to rail transport, for which the theme this year was “Exploiting railway data to advance sustainable practices”, UIC presented its work in terms of data collection and railway indicators related to sustainable development. This was particularly within the framework of the Rail Sustainability index (RSi) activities and the UIC Statistics Platform.
Subsequently, the ITF Secretariat provided information about “Potential new indicators on rail transport”. It was noted that the ITF currently collects data on railway infrastructure investment and maintenance at a national level from its members, as well as on freight and passenger traffic. The ITF proposed collecting new data on operational and environmental performance indicators, such as network usage indicators by passenger service type or fleet usage, as well as on the energy efficiency of different vehicle categories and CO2 emissions. The relevance of collecting freight volume data in cubic meters and not just in tonnes was also discussed, particularly due to the fact that goods are becoming lighter and more expensive. Other innovative indicators were also proposed.
The meeting also addressed other modes of transport, including emerging mobility models such as motorised or non-motorised shared vehicles and charging stations for electric vehicles. The use of big data and AI to measure transport mobility was also presented, with examples from Italy and Spain.
Finally, DG Move (European Commission) gave a presentation on an in-depth in-progress study on internalising external costs in transport, based on the year 2022 with an expanded geographical scope (including candidate countries, and so on).
The next ITF Transport Statistics Meeting will take place on 10-11 April 2025.
Further information on this meeting can be found at https://www.itf-oecd.org/10th-itf-transport-statistics-meeting.
