Mileage of Motor Vehicles in 2004 Higher Than Ever Before

2003 saw a slight decline in the mileage of vehicle kilometers driven annually by all German road passenger and freight vehicles. This development did not continue in 2004; instead the mileage, at 697 billion vehicle kilometers, was higher than ever before, despite the fact that fuel prices continued to rise. Where freight vehicles are concerned, the number of vehicles on the road hardly changed as compared to 2003; the volume of goods to be transported only rose marginally. Since, however, transport distances increased, the mileage of German freight and semitrailer trucks was 1.3% higher in 2004 as compared to the previous year. The mileage of passenger cars registered in Germany even increased by 2.3% to 591 billion vehicle kilometers. The decline in 2003 was clearly not a shift in the trend, but rather one of the short-term adjustment reactions by consumers, as has often occurred in the past. Average consumption of motor vehicles decreased only marginally in the past year; total consumption of fuel in the traffic sector increased by 1.6%. The amount of the climate-relevant CO2 gas emitted even rose by 1.8%, since the increase of consumption was larger for diesel fuel with higher CO2 exhaust per liter than gasoline.

The Diverse Structures of Passenger Car Taxation in Europe and the EU Commissions Proposal for Reform

In this study we first analyze duties on passenger cars in 27 European countries. Taxes and fees related to the registration, ownership and use of cars are assessed differently across Europe, and their rates vary significantly. We find that the annual taxes levied on specific types of cars differ across countries by a factor of up to four, while the various kinds of duties levied account for extremely diverse shares of the entire car-related tax burden and give rise to very different ratios of fixed and variable components in the taxes levied. Given the importance of taxation systems for market and competitive conditions, the Euro-pean Commission is seeking to achieve reciprocal alignment of the various systems. The Commission has also proposed that greater importance be given to environmental criteria in the assessment of vehicle related taxes. Effectively in some countries, the registration taxes represent a significant burden on the acquisition of new vehicles; this factor reduces market transparency and may mean that taxes are levied twice. Only in a few countries' tax schemes is fuel consumption taken into account, and then only to a marginal degree. It is thus neces-sary to modify and simplify the tax systems in Europe, because it is crucial that the traffic sector contribute more to climate protection, and because motor vehicles impair local air quality. In this context, the overall structure of the various charges to passenger cars should be rebalanced, with CO2 emissions not being the sole focus.

Ageing and Mobility in Germany: Are Women Taking the Fast Lane?

Results from travel demand research in many countries show that - on average - women are less mobile and have different mobility patterns than men. Recent longitudinal studies of gender specific travel demand reveal converging mobility of males and females. Moreover, in some countries results show convergence between cohort and gender specific travel demand: women and men display more and more similar travel behaviour while older individuals today have higher mobility demands than ever before. Do these developments hold also for Germany? Based on socio-economic and demographic analysis of gender specific travel behaviour using the German mobility survey data from 2002, we ask what individual travel patterns can be expected for the future in the year 2025. We place emphasis on the importance of educational attainment and labour force participation for the assessment of future personal mobility.travel demand, cohort effects, gender, households, ageing population

Measuring and Explaining the Increase of Travel Distance: A Multilevel Analysis Using Repeated Cross Sectional Travel Surveys

Structural and behavioural factors drive the growth and change of spatial mobility in the industrialised countries: on the macro level we have observed tremendous increases in travel demand as measured by person miles travelled. This paper studies this development of mobility of tripmaking adult persons on working days by analysing micro data as it is provided by the four National Travel Surveys (NTS) that were conducted in Germany since the mid seventies. In order to fully capture the context which determines individual behaviour, we account for the nested hierarchy of persons within households within spatial settings by using a multilevel modelling approach. In addition we investigate the prediction power of a few classic socio-demographic variables for the daily travel distance of individuals in the four data sets. We find that after controlling for the covariates considered, the total variance of daily travel distance decreases over time, this decrease stemming both from the INDIVIDUAL and the HOUSEHOLD level. We further find that traditional socio-demographic household and person characteristics diminish in importance to explain person mileage. Significance and amount of the variance components taken together indicate some AREA level effect and strong HOUSEHOLD level context effects on individual daily distance. Thus it is important to consider all conceptual levels which generate significant variation in the mobility indicator under study.

Transport infrastructure: Higher investments needed to preserve assets

A quantitatively and qualitatively efficient transport infrastructure is a fundamental requirement for the success and prosperity of the German economy, with its high degree of labor division, its many exchange relationships, and its central European location. The transport infrastructure represents a considerable economic capital stock with gross fixed assets of 778 billion euros. This corresponds to six percent of the gross fixed assets of all economic sectors in Germany. Despite the importance of this sector for the economy, there is a serious lack of investment in the maintenance and quality assurance of the transport infrastructure. Against this backdrop, a brief survey on the transport sector has been developed for this article based on an ex-post comparison of replacement demand and replacement investment made from 2006 to 2011. The analysis shows that, in the past, there has been an investment shortfall of almost four billion euros for the maintenance of the transport infrastructure. Assuming that this investment gap will need to be closed in order to maintain the transport infrastructure in coming years, and if the cumulative result of years of neglect is also taken into account, the additional annual investment requirement is likely to be at least 6.5 billion euros. There are also additional investment requirements for vehicles and selective network and capacity expansion that are difficult to estimate

Mileage of Motor Vehicles in 2004 Higher Than Ever Before

2003 saw a slight decline in the mileage of vehicle kilometers driven annually by all German road passenger and freight vehicles. This development did not continue in 2004; instead the mileage, at 697 billion vehicle kilometers, was higher than ever before, despite the fact that fuel prices continued to rise. Where freight vehicles are concerned, the number of vehicles on the road hardly changed as compared to 2003; the volume of goods to be transported only rose marginally. Since, however, transport distances increased, the mileage of German freight and semitrailer trucks was 1.3% higher in 2004 as compared to the previous year. The mileage of passenger cars registered in Germany even increased by 2.3% to 591 billion vehicle kilometers. The decline in 2003 was clearly not a shift in the trend, but rather one of the short-term adjustment reactions by consumers, as has often occurred in the past. Average consumption of motor vehicles decreased only marginally in the past year; total consumption of fuel in the traffic sector increased by 1.6%. The amount of the climate-relevant CO2 gas emitted even rose by 1.8%, since the increase of consumption was larger for diesel fuel with higher CO2 exhaust per liter than gasoline

Nachfrageentwicklung und Kraftstoffeinsatz im Straßenverkehr: Alternative Antriebe kommen nur schwer in Fahrt

Die 54 Millionen Kraftfahrzeuge in Deutschland legten im Jahr 2012 fast 720 Milliarden Kilometer zurück. Weder im Fahrzeugbestand noch in der Fahrzeugnutzung haben dabei alternative Antriebe und Kraftstoffe bisher deutliche Erfolge erreicht. Hingegen gewinnt der Dieselantrieb, der relativ hohe Emissionen von Luftschadstoffen aufweist, weiter an Bedeutung: Im Pkw-Bereich machen Diesel-Fahrzeuge inzwischen 29 Prozent des Bestandes und 43 Prozent der Fahrleistungen aus. Der Dieselkraftstoff ist seit zehn Jahren der wichtigste Energieträger im Straßenverkehr. Der Anteil biogener Kraftstoffe stagniert seit 2008 unter sechs Prozent, Erd- und Flüssiggas decken erst 1,5 Prozent des Bedarfs. Bezüglich der alternativen Antriebe sollten neben vielversprechenden langfristigen Optionen wie der Elektromobilität kurzfristig verfügbare, sinnvolle Alternativen nicht vernachlässigt werden. Der Einsatz von Erdgas stellt eine bereits heute verfügbare Alternative dar, die verglichen mit konventionellen Kraftstoffen geringere Emissionen von Treibhausgasen und Luftschadstoffen aufweist und perspektivisch offen für die Nutzung erneuerbarer Energien ist. Die Nutzung von Erdgas im Verkehr sollte daher weiterhin gefördert werden.The 54 million vehicles in Germany drove almost 720 billion kilometers in 2012. To date, alternative drive systems and fuels have not achieved any notable success in terms of vehicle numbers or vehicle use. However, the diesel engine, which has higher emissions of air pollutants, is gaining ground: diesel vehicles now constitute 29 percent of all passenger vehicles and 43 percent of all kilometers driven. Diesel fuel has been the most important energy source in road transport for ten years now. The proportion of biogenic fuels has stagnated since 2008 at below six percent, natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas cover only 1.5 percent of demand. In terms of alternative drive systems, not only are there promising long-term options, such as electromobility, but short-term meaningful alternatives should not be neglected either. The use of natural gas represents an alternative system with fewer emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants than conventional fuels and is potentially open to renewable energies use. The use of natural gas in the transport sector should therefore continue to be supported

Kraftfahrzeugverkehr 2006 trotz konjunkturellen Aufschwungs nur wenig gestiegen

Seit Anfang dieses Jahrzehnts bewegt sich die Gesamtfahrleistung der in Deutschland zugelassenen Kraftfahrzeuge knapp unterhalb von 700 Mrd. Kilometern jährlich. Während im Jahr 2005 die deutschen Kraftfahrzeuge insgesamt etwas weniger gefahren wurden als im Vorjahr, ist 2006 die Belastung der Straßen wieder leicht gestiegen. Die Fahrleistung hat insgesamt trotz der anhaltend hohen Kraftstoffpreise und der Einführung der Steuer auf Biodiesel um rund 1 % zugenommen. Damit spiegelt sich die gute Konjunktur auch in der Verkehrsnachfrage wider. Bei den Pkw hält der Trend zum Diesel-Fahrzeug weiter an. Da immer mehr große Diesel-Pkw zugelassen werden, ist der Durchschnittsverbrauch der Diesel-Flotte leicht gestiegen, der aller Pkw nur minimal zurückgegangen. Der CO2-Ausstoß bleibt seit Jahren fast unverändert

Kraftfahrzeugverkehr 2008 noch auf hohem Niveau

Trotz der hohen Kraftstoffpreise und des wirtschaftlichen Absturzes im letzten Quartal ist 2008 die Gesamtfahrleistung der in Deutschland zugelassenen Kraftfahrzeuge nur leicht gefallen. Während die Fahrleistung im Güterverkehr noch leicht gestiegen ist, gingen bei den Personenkraftwagen 2008 sowohl die Fahrleistungen als auch die Neuzulassungen zurück. Als Kraftstoff wird Benzin immer mehr durch Diesel ersetzt. Bei den Pkw machen Diesel-Fahrzeuge inzwischen ein Viertel des Bestandes und 37 Prozent der Fahrleistung aus. Erstmals ist 2008 der Anteil biogener Kraftstoffe rückläufig, auch haben die hohen Kraftstoffpreise nicht zu einer ausreichenden Beschleunigung der Verbreitung alternativer Antriebsvarianten geführt. Insgesamt wird mit tendenziell steigenden Kraftstoffpreisen, hoher Ölabhängigkeit und den umweltpolitischen Zielsetzungen deutlich, dass verstärkte Anstrengungen zur Verbesserung der Kraftstoffeffizienz und der Förderung von Alternativen zur ölbasierten Mobilität erforderlich sind