6.5 - Mobility

Top  From the White Paper of the European Commission

(Note 1) 80 per cent of Europeans live in an urban area. Public transport, cars, trucks, cyclists and pedestrians use the same infrastructure. Urban transport accounts for 40 per cent of CO2 emissions caused by road transport and up to 70 per cent of other pollutants caused by transport. One casualty out of three dies in a city. Congestion problems are serious in cities and around them. The challenge all cities have to face up to is to assess how mobility can be enhanced but reducing at the same time congestion, accidents, and pollution. City dwellers experience directly more than anybody else the downsides of their mobility and may be willing to accept innovative solutions to promote sustainable mobility.

Top  New trends in mobility

The debate of issues related to mobility often entails reference to clichés such as the idea of ever growing mobility. As a matter of fact, some areas have already achieved saturation point. More detailed analyses reveal features of mobility that deviate quite a lot from average data and require an assessment that takes into account the different aspects of mobility and points of reference.
The perceived effect of an increase in demand can be traced back to a growing propensity to use cars and an increase in the distances travelled, especially as to mobility that is other than commuting to work. This propensity needs to be better investigated and is associated with the greater availability of cars - the car ownership rate is about 590 cars per 1,000 inhabitants in 2005 and is close to saturation point as the ratio is almost 1/1 if we include the population between 18 and 70 years and consider how spread out business is. Many businesses move their operations out of town, thus making urban areas less densely populated and quite widespread. This increases the propensity to use cars and goes against the possibility to supply suitable, alternative means of public transport. (Figure 6.5.1)

Top  Traffic and roads

Trends in road traffic are anything but similar along the main regional roads. Areas with diminishing traffic (Note 2) can be found as is the case for motorways where traffic increased by 75 per cent (Note 3) over all motorway stretches and especially in the Vicenza-Piovene one. A positive trend though more moderate can be found on the main suburban network, as traffic was basically unchanged, especially in the central areas of capitals. This is perhaps the most surprising result as it is in contrast with the cliché that mobility is on the increase everywhere. This can be traced back to the scattering of business and its movement from central to more peripheral areas while minor cities became more and more important between 1990 and 2006. Research carried out when the general plan for urban transport of Padua in 2003 was drawn up showed a decrease in the traffic heading for the town centre over a five-year period with considerable reductions of about 10-20 per cent vis-a-vis limited cases of positive variations.

Top  General features of transport in the 2001 census

In 2001 the Venetian municipalities were responsible for about 2,300,000 commutes for work or study. Compared to 1991, there is an increase (+2.2%) in the number of commutes, which is however lower than the increase in population (+3.4%). In 2001 commutes per person decreased to 51.2 compared to 51.8 in 1991 thus showing a slight reduction in the average rate per person. (Table 6.5.1)
This aggregate may imply a not so dynamic system but its components need to be analysed to find that behind the little changing or even slightly decreasing average there are important transformations.
To account for this apparent contradiction to the widespread view of a growing demand for commuting the aggregate must be regarded as including only the commuting component concerning systematic daily commutes of residents to work and study. On the contrary, other sources suggest that unsystematic components are growing. Several surveys of European areas (Note 4) suggest that the average number of commutes per person has not changed considerably in the last few decades and is around 3.3 daily commutes per person. As the daily commutes to study or work can be estimated to be slightly over one commute per person - in the Veneto this is equal to .518 commutes/resident either to or from the place of work or study - the systematic component of commutes is about one third of total commutes. Moreover, the average implies a counterbalancing of values that can be detected through more careful analysis and refer to the many components of mobility and age brackets.
Commuting between home and work has increased by 5.8 per cent, while commutes between home and place of study have decreased by 4.9 per cent. Moreover, the 0-64 years age bracket has grown 23 per cent in the last decade, the 0-24 years age bracket has decreased 18 per cent. This tends to drive down the number of systematic commutes. (Table 6.5.2)
Another factor concerns the means of transport used for commuting. A considerable portion of traffic increase can be traced back to a change in transport modes and especially to a growing propensity to use cars, as has already been pointed out.
All commutes being equal, a considerable growth has been found in the use of cars from 64 per cent in 1991 to 74 per cent in 2001 - with a relative increase equal to 16 per cent. Students stating that they used the car were 16 per cent in 1991, 27 per cent in 2001 or 69 per cent higher. This is a regional average as percentages tend to change in different areas. What is striking is especially that only in the provincial capitals of Padova (67%) and Venezia cars are used less than the regional average while in the other cases it ranges between 72 per cent (Verona) and 78 percent (Belluno). (Figure 6.5.2)
The decrease of commutes to the centres of capitals is confirmed vis a vis an increase of commutes to smaller cities. This has the advantage of reducing the general trend to an increase in the distances covered, but reduces the use of public transport by road and rail.
Public transport - by train and bus - can hardly account for the values of systematic transport. It accounted for 44 per cent of commutes between home and place of study in 1991 and 35 per cent in 2001. For home to place of study commutes, rail accounts for 12 per cent of commutes. Counteracting the propensity to use cars requires different kinds of actions such as an increase in public transport, an increase in stops such as train stops, and a city planning consistent with easy access to public transport.

Top  The potential of rail transport

The forthcoming SFMR (Servizio Ferroviario Metropolitano Regionale or Regional Metropolitan Rail Service) will contribute to improving the supply of quality train services as has already been done in many European areas where these services received a positive response from travellers.
A recent study by the Università di Padova (Note 5) shows to what extent metropolitan train transport can be improved by comparing service and demand in the Padova area with three Swiss urban areas.
By comparing the rail plan of four cities - Zürich, Lausanne, Bern and Padova - a good supply can be noticed in Padova in terms of number of rail branches, but a considerable lower supply with reference to destinations, stations and train stops vis-a-vis the territory.
The density of rail services is also highlighted by indicators such as the average number of residents per stop and urban area surface per stop, which are both considerably higher than in the Padova urban area. (Figure 6.5.3), (Figure 6.5.4), (Figure 6.5.5) and (Figure 6.5.6)

Top  Patterns of systematic transport

Generally speaking, in the decade between one census and the next there was a strong reduction in commutes from home to go to work especially with reference to the main poles, Padova and Venezia.
Changes in the patterns of commuting from home to work are more complex and there is a general tendency of an increase in connections with minor centres. Even in the case of home-to-work commuting changes appear to concern the cities of Venezia and Padova. Venezia has strongly reduced its ability to attract people from the neighbouring municipalities while it has increased its ability to attract people from outside. Padova has increased the size of its catchment and influence area. (Figure 6.5.7-10)
The supplementary and within-municipality-commuting data show a general trend to reduction both for commuting from home to place of study and from home to place of work, especially with reference to the main destinations of provincial capitals. (Figure 6.5.11) and (Figure 6.5.12)

Top  Commuting destinations

We have already pointed out that behind overall average data on commuting there can be quite different patterns of its components. A more specific analysis needs to be conducted that is more suited to detect the features that are more amenable to influence by government policies or directives. According to this objective, it is particularly important to study the role of some destinations to establish the features of commuting in the region.
About 45% of all systematic commuting in the Veneto implies commuting to or from 17 municipalities. A large portion of commuting in small areas points to problems of congestion, but also to potential effectiveness of measures such as traffic regulation and promotion of environmentally friendly means of transport.
We have thus identified as meaningful destinations 17 municipalities that in 2001 were destinations with at least 15,000 daily commutes. These are the provincial capital plus 10 more municipalities. (Figure 6.5.13)

The role of minor centres becomes more important compared to capitals

The evolution of centres is uneven as data show a growing influence of secondary destinations while the main capitals exhibit significant - but often negative - changes.
Generally speaking, systematic commuting referring to capitals decreased by 1.6% overall as a result of an even more marked reduction in internal commuting which decreased by 8.3 per cent and was only partially offset by an increase in commuting to and from, commuting outside the area has increased for all capitals apart from Venezia.
This can be associated with changes in the commuting system where commuting to and from increases, but there is greater distance and scattering in the area as opposed to internal features, short distances and mainly radial. (Figure 6.5.14) and (Figure 6.5.15)

The catchment area of the Veneto centres

The size of the catchment area of commuting for the different centres is a significant indicator of the role the different centres and the relationship patterns with external areas.
In the case in hand we have shown commuting areas identified with the territory - the group of municipalities - with frequent exchanges in terms of commuting to and from the place of work or study. The catchment area for each centre is concisely defined by a group of municipalities selected in decreasing order according to their contribution in terms of mobility and accounting for 85 per cent of commuting.
In most cases an increase in the size of the commuting area can be noticed, thus confirming the trend towards an increase in average distances covered.
Maps - one per area - show the municipalities forming the area that accounts for 85 per cent of overall commuting with destination in the municipality. A simple glance confirms the extreme cases of Padova - whose area consists of more than 50 municipalities - and the municipality of Chioggia - that accounts for over 85% of commuting though consisting of a single municipality. (Figure 6.5.16)

Top  The exchange factor grows

One feature of commuting to the centres of the region concerns the growing incidence of 'exchange' commuting - relationships with municipalities external to the area compared to internal commuting of municipalities.
An indicator of the changing structure of systematic commuting in the main centres emerges out of a comparison between internal and exchange components in 1991 and 2001.
Each centre is associated with a group of municipalities making up the first 'belt'. (Note 6) and (Note 7) and (Figure 6.5.17) and (Table 6.5.3)
On this basis five components of commuting are identified by distinguishing commuting to the centre from the rest of the Veneto, commuting to and from the first belt, internal mobility - with origin and destination - commuting from the centre to the first belt, commuting to the rest of the Veneto.
Out of the total commutes to and from capital municipalities, exchange mobility has been higher than internal mobility since 2001.
The internal mobility component is significantly higher than 50% only in the municipalities of Venezia and Verona. This deviation from the average can be traced back to the considerable size of these two municipalities.
The internal mobility component for Padova, Treviso and Vicenza is 39 per cent, 33 per cent and 42.5 per cent respectively. (Figure 6.5.18)
In the decade 1991 to 2001 the incidence of internal mobility decreased on average by 3.5 percentage points with 8.5 per cent troughs in Belluno, 6.7 per cent in Rovigo and 4.7 per cent in Padova. (Figure 6.5.19)
The increase in the exchange components is also correlated to the growing size of traffic areas and average distances covered. In this respect, however, the increase in distances covered is not as significant as it may be expected. As a matter of fact mobility grew considerably in the areas of minor centres with shorter distances to cover. (Figure 6.5.20)

Top  Urban mobility in Italy in the last few years

According to a survey by Isfort (Note 8), in the last few years the overall mobility in Italy has not undergone substantial changes. On the contrary, urban mobility - consisting of all commutes by residents within the municipal boundaries and within a distance not higher than 20 km - decreased considerably from 2003 to 2005.
Though a sharp decrease of its incidence from 2003 to 2005 is confirmed, urban mobility is still at quite high levels. In 2005 commutes within the municipal boundaries were 77.6 per cent of the total, 88.5 per cent in 2004 and 86.3 per cent in 2003.
This sharp decrease is affected by minor centres. In cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants the decrease is not as sharp. Mobility within the municipal boundaries accounted for 90.4 of the total in 2005 compared with 94.3 in 2004. This happened only in big cities with more than 250,000 inhabitants.
(Figure 6.5.21) and (Figure 6.5.22)




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Notes

  1. MESSAGE OF THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
    - keep Europe moving
    - a sustainable mobility for Europe
    - new intermediate assessment of the White Paper on transport published by the European Commission in 2001 - 22.06.2006
  2. Information sources are quite uneven as the organisations managing the networks (motorway companies, road building and upkeeping companies such as ANAS and Veneto Strade, provincial and municipal governments) use very different criteria and methods to collect and process data. The Regione Veneto is trying to promote initiatives for and to co-ordinate the collection of data on traffic within the SIRSE project.
  3. For further information on the road network see Chapter 5.
  4. Data collection carried out in France, CERTU, Les chiffres clés des enquêtes ménages déplacements, Lyon, 2004.
  5. L.Della Lucia and L.Ros, La ferrovia suburbana: la situazione di Padova a confronto con le reti di Zurigo, Berna e Losanna, T&T Trasporti e Territorio, n.4 dicembre 2006.
  6. The two centres of Vittorio Veneto-Conegliano and Thiene-Schio are regarded as single centres because no distinction could be made between the surrounding belts if centres were taken individually.
  7. The municipalities within the belt of each centre have been identified using two criteria: each one of them makes a contribution of at least 2 per cent to the mobility of the centre, and the municipality bordering on the territory of the centre.
  8. The 'Audimob' survey by Isfort is based on an extensive investigation recording in detail and systematically all the commutes by the respondent the day before the interview - only working days - with the exception of walks of less than five minutes.
    Data refer to the demand of residents and cannot take into account inflows and outflows in the different urban areas as these - if positive - exert further pressure on urban mobility. This is especially true of larger cities.


Figure 6.5.1
Commuting for work and study and by means of transport - the Veneto in 1991 and 2001 and percentage variation 2001/1991
Table 6.5.1
Overall systematic mobility and production rates (*) - the Veneto in 1991 and 2001 and percentage variation 2001/1991
Table 6.5.2
Systematic mobility and production rates (*) for work and study - the Veneto in 1991 and 2001 and percentage variation 2001/1991
Figure 6.5.2
Percentage distribution of cross-regional commuting to and from provincial capitals - Year 2001
Figure 6.5.3
Percentage distribution of commuting from home to work of residents in Bern, Lausanne, Zürich, Padova by means of transport - Year 2000
Figure 6.5.4
Diagrams of the rail network of Zürich, Lausanne, Bern and Padova - Year 2000
Figure 6.5.5
Average surface - in square kilometers - of the urban area by rail stop in the cities of Bern, Lausanne, Zürich, Padova - Year 2000
Figure 6.5.6
Average number of inhabitants per rail stop in the cities of Bern, Lausanne, Zürich, Padova - Year 2000
Figure 6.5.7-10
Cross-municipal commuting to and from home
Figure 6.5.11
Veneto municipalities with the main 2001-1991 variations of cross-municipal commutes for study purposes (absolute values)
Figure 6.5.12
Veneto municipalities with the main 2001-1991 variations of cross-municipal commutes for work purposes (absolute values)
Figure 6.5.13
Veneto municipalities with the highest number of incoming commuters for study and work - Year 2001
Figure 6.5.14
Incoming commutes in the main centres of the Veneto - Year 2001
Figure 6.5.15
Percentage variation 2001-1991 of incoming commutes in the main centres of the Veneto - Year 2001
Figure 6.5.16
Mobility area for the main centres affected by commuting - Year 2001
Figure 6.5.17
Urban areas of the main centres affected by commuting
Table 6.5.3
Mobility for work concerning the main centres per type of commuting (absolute values) - Year 2001
Figure 6.5.18
Mobility for work concerning the main centres; percentage division among the different components - Year 2001
Figure 6.5.19
Mobility for work to the main centres; percentage variations 2001-1991 per type of commuting
Figure 6.5.20
Average length of commuting to the main centres. Years 1991 and 2001
Figure 6.5.21
Pattern of the demand for mobility in Italy. Index numbers of commutes (100=year 2000) - Years 2000:2005
Figure 6.5.22
Percentage of commutes in the urban area per type of municipality. Italy - Years 2003:2005
Chapter 6 in figures
Chapter 6 in figures

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