Dear Colleagues,
Help! I'm having problems tracking down some key transportation statistics.
Perhaps you can help.
I am working on a study that examines how fuel prices (and therefore fuel
and carbon taxes) affect travel activity, vehicle fuel consumption (and
therefore pollution emissions), traffic crash rates, transport affordability
and economic productivity. I've performed some of this analysis previously,
but I want to update and standardize it all.
Unfortunately, I have trouble finding much of the data, including
country-level per capita vehicle-kilometres and vehicle fuel consumption.
The sources I've found so far have significant problems:
. Many vehicle fuel statistics only report gasoline consumption,
which underestimates total fuel consumption in countries where diesel
represents a major portion of private vehicle travel.
. Some statistics report total petroleum consumption which
exaggerates personal transport fuel consumption, since 30-50% of petroleum
is used for freight transport and industrial production.
. Some countries, such as Luxembourg, which have lower fuel taxes
than adjacent countries, sell lots of fuel to visitors, which is incorrectly
reported as domestic consumption.
. Some statistics report car ownership, which greatly understates
vehicle ownership in the US and other countries where light trucks, vans and
SUVs represent a major share of private vehicles.
. Vehicle travel data are missing for many countries, including my
own (Canada).
. The OECD database reports passenger-kilometres, which is
inconsistent with other sources that report vehicle-kilometres, which is the
more appropriate metric.
. The OECD's consumer expenditure tables
(https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=SNA_TABLE5 ) show the U.S. as
having one of the lowest portion of household spending devoted to transport
(less than 10%), although the US Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer
Expenditure Survey (www.bls.gov/cex/tables.htm ) indicates a more realistic
15.9%. This suggests that the OECD's consumer expenditure data set is not
standardized and is therefore virtually useless for international
comparisons.
I believe that much of the information I need is in the "IRF World Road
Statistics 2018" (www.nrso.ntua.gr/irf-world-road-statistics-2018 ), which
costs about $1,200, and the "World Energy Statistics and Balances"
(https://bit.ly/2Jxlx2l ), which costs about $2,000.
Please let me know if you have access to either of those documents and can
share with me the key data, or if you know of a smart student who might want
to work with me on this project in order to get published and paid (I have a
small budget for this work).
This is, of course, another example of the terrible condition of basic
transport-related data, which spoils good planning and research. Ignorance
is winning! Why are other professions able to agree on data definitions and
collection methods, and convince governments to standardize reporting, but
not transport agencies and organizations?
Related Publications
Todd Litman (2009), "Evaluating Carbon Taxes as an Energy Conservation and
Emission Reduction Strategy," Transportation Research Record 2139,
Transportation Research Board (www.trb.org), pp. 125-132; based on Carbon
Taxes: Tax What You Burn, Not What You Earn, Victoria Transport Policy
Institute (www.vtpi.org <http://www.vtpi.org/> ); at
www.vtpi.org/carbontax.pdf.
Todd Litman (2009), Carbon Taxes: Tax What You Burn, Not What You Earn,
Victoria Transport Policy Institute (www.vtpi.org <http://www.vtpi.org/> );
at www.vtpi.org/carbontax.pdf.
Todd Litman (2013), "Comprehensive Evaluation of Energy Conservation and
Emission Reduction Policies," Transportation Research A, Vol. 47, January,
pp. 153-166 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2012.10.022); at
www.vtpi.org/comp_em_eval.pdf.
Todd Litman (2014), The Mobility-Productivity Paradox: Exploring the
Negative Relationships Between Mobility and Economic Productivity, presented
at the International Transportation Economic Development Conference, 9-11
April 2014, Dallas, Texas (https://tti.tamu.edu/conferences/ited2014); at
www.vtpi.org/ITED_paradox.pdf.
Todd Litman (2014), "How Transport Pricing Reforms Can Increase Road
Safety," Traffic Infra Tech, April-May 2014, pp. 68-71
(http://emag.trafficinfratech.com ); at www.vtpi.org/TIT-pricesafety.pdf.
Sincerely,
Todd Litman ([log in to unmask])
Victoria Transport Policy Institute (www.vtpi.org)
Office: 250-360-1560 | Mobile: 250-508-5150
1250 Rudlin Street, Victoria, BC, V8V 3R7, CANADA
Efficiency - Equity - Clarity
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