INDIC

Transport indicators are an important component of mobility research and policy. Unfortunately much of these indicators are only known on an aggregated level (nationally and regionally) for Belgium.
The aim of the project `description and analysis of transport indicators at a level of spatial disaggregated level more detailed than the regions' is to compose a set of indicators on a spatial disaggregated level (level provinces and districts). This will allow the relevant authorities to follow the evolution in mobility in a more precise manner.
The development of the indicators was a precise exercise, taking into account the multiple factors which are necessary to describe the complexity of the mobility problems.
The indicators have been selected, in close cooperation with the Bureau of Planning ('Planbureau') and the Federal Department Mobility and Transport ('FOD Mobiliteit en Transport'), on their relevance as transport indicator, their applicability in the commonly used mobility instruments and their 'measurability'.

The indicators treated in this study have been grouped in five categories, in conformity with the note of the Federal Bureau of Planning (Gusbin D. (2005)).

The categories are:

1. Macroeconomic data
Four indicators have been analysed in this category: the number of inhabitants, the number of jobs according to work location, the number of jobs according to location of residence and the share of the transport costs in the overall expenditure of the households. These last ones have been split in several components such as the share of the vehicle use, purchase, maintenance...

2. Transport infrastructure data
This second category of indicators describes the extent of the road, railway, river, port, airport and multimodal infrastructure. The road, bicycle route, river and railroad networks are described by the length  of the different types of roads. The airport infrastructure has been characterised by the technical capacity. For the port areas, the description concentrates on the specification of the port and the type of goods that is handled. The multimodal tranfer points have been enumerated and for each location is the available modes are listed.

3. Vehicle fleet data
Several analysis criteria were selected to describe the Belgian vehicle fleet: according to the vehicle type, the fuel, the cylinder contents, but also the vehicle age in order to evaluate the penetration percentage of the different EURO standards in the car park. Additionally, a distinction is made between company cars and private cars. Trucks have been classified according to the 'maximum allowed charge'.

4. Traffic and transport volume
This fourth set of indicators describes the scope of the traffic and transport volumes, both for persons and for goods, each time for the different transport modes. The number of plane movements by airport has been used as an indicator for the air traffic. The passenger transport on the inland shipping has not been incorporated because of the minimal volumes of this transport mode in Belgium.

5. External impact of transport
This category of indicators treats emissions, congestion and accidents. The emissions are given for all the transport modes, congestion only for the road transport. The emissions have been developed at national and regional level. The traffic accidents are classified according to the severeness of the accident.