Reference metadata describe statistical concepts and methodologies used for the collection and generation of data. They provide information on data quality and, since they are strongly content-oriented, assist users in interpreting the data. Reference metadata, unlike structural metadata, can be decoupled from the data.
Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union
1.2. Contact organisation unit
E3: Transport statistics
1.3. Contact name
Restricted from publication
1.4. Contact person function
Restricted from publication
1.5. Contact mail address
L-2920 Luxembourg LUXEMBOURG
1.6. Contact email address
Restricted from publication
1.7. Contact phone number
Restricted from publication
1.8. Contact fax number
Restricted from publication
2.1. Metadata last certified
29 February 2024
2.2. Metadata last posted
29 February 2024
2.3. Metadata last update
29 February 2024
3.1. Data description
The data in this dataset comes from the Common Questionnaire for Transport Statistics, developed and surveyed by Eurostat in cooperation between the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the International Transport Forum (ITF) at OECD.
The Common Questionnaire is not supported by a legal act, but is based on a gentlemen's agreement with the participating countries; its completeness varies from country to country.
Eurostat’s datasets based on the Common Questionnaire cover annual data for the EU Member States, EFTA states and Candidate countries to the EU. Data for other participating countries are available through the ITF and the UNECE. In total, comparable transport data collected through the Common Questionnaire is available for close to 60 countries worldwide.
The Common Questionnaire collects aggregated annual data on:
Railway transport
Road transport
Inland waterways transport
Oil pipelines transport
Road traffic - vehicle-kilometres
Buses (and coaches)
For each mode of transport, the Common Questionnaire covers some or all of the following sub-modules (the number of questions/variables within each sub-module varies between the different modes of transport):
Infrastructure (All modes)
Transport equipment (Rail, Road and Inland Waterways)
Enterprises, economic performance and employment (All modes)
Traffic (Rail, Road and Inland Waterways)
Transport measurement (All modes).
As its name suggests, the theme "Road traffic" focuses on "traffic" only, on road:
of national vehicle stocks, on national and foreign territories, by type of road; and by vehicle category, fuel type and age. These data should rely on odometer readings;
of national- and foreign-registered vehicles on national territories. These data should be issued from road censuses.
The theme “Buses and coaches” covers detailed information on road “traffic” (vkm) and “transport measurement” (passengers, passenger-km) performed by buses and coaches.
The data collection on Common Questionnaire was streamlined twice in the recent years:
In 2013, among other changes, the collection of employment data was terminated;
In 2019, among other changes, the collection of gas pipeline data was terminated, and the number of “Buses” indicators was reduced.
The Common Questionnaire is completed by the competent national authorities. The responsibility for completing specific modules (e.g. Transport by Rail) or part of modules (e.g. Road Infrastructure) may be delegated to other national authorities in charge of specific fields.
3.2. Classification system
The definitions used in the Common Questionnaire are specified in the Glossary for transport statistics, 5th edition - 2019. The Glossary is an official publication in EN, FR, DE. Versions in most of EU official languages are available in Word format.
3.3. Coverage - sector
The Common Questionnaire statistics covers:
Railway transport
Road transport
Inland waterways transport
Oil pipelines transport
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
The definitions used in the Common Questionnaire are specified in the Glossary for transport statistics, 5th edition - 2019.The Glossary is an official publication cin EN, FR, DE. Versions in most of EU official languages are available in Word format.
3.5. Statistical unit
The Common Questionnaire is modular: The statistical unit varies from module to module.
3.6. Statistical population
Transport infrastructure and transport equipment on the national territory; enterprises involved in transport activities on the national territory; traffic and transport volumes (freight and passengers) on the national territory or made by vehicles registed in the territory.
3.7. Reference area
Member States of the European Union; EFTA states; European Union Candidate countries and potential candidate(s). Further countries are covered by the ITF and UNECE, respectively. The Common Questionnaire is a voluntary data collection, based on a gentlemen's agreement with the participating countries.
3.8. Coverage - Time
Some data collections go back to 1970, while others start more recently. From 1990 until the last reported year the collection includes annual data. The countries can easily revise their data since reference year 2013.
3.9. Base period
Not applicable.
The Common Questionnaire is modular: The measurement unit varies from module to module.
Only aggregated national data are reported by the participating countries; no micro data or confidential data are reported.
Data are collected on a yearly basis.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
The Common Questionnaire is not supported by any legal acts; it is a voluntary data collection, based on a gentlemen's agreement with the participating countries.
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
Data are shared with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the International Transport Forum (ITF).
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
The Common Questionnaire is a voluntary data collection of aggregated national data. No confidential data should be or are reported by the participating countries.
There is no official release calendar, but the intention is to publish data on reference year N by the end of year N+1.
8.2. Release calendar access
Not applicable.
8.3. Release policy - user access
Quality assured datasets are available free of charge through Eurostat’s Eurobase dissemination database, available through Eurostat’s website, under the theme ‘Transport statistics’. Aggregated national annual data are available.
In line with the Community legal framework and the European Statistics Code of Practice Eurostat disseminates European statistics on Eurostat's website (see item 10 - 'Accessibility and clarity') respecting professional independence and in an objective, professional and transparent manner in which all users are treated equitably. The detailed arrangements are governed by the Eurostat protocol on impartial access to Eurostat data for users.
Annually. An intermediate update can occur 1 or 2 months after 1st release.
10.1. Dissemination format - News release
News articles usually accompany Statistics Explained articles, published in same time as CQ data are released.
10.2. Dissemination format - Publications
The data on transport equipment are the base of annual Statistics Explained articles (SE):
Quality assured datasets are available free of charge through Eurostat’s Eurobase dissemination database, under the theme ‘Transport statistics’, data from the Common Questionnaire are included under the respective modes headings. Aggregated annual data at national level are available.
Comparable Common Questionnaire transport data for further countries are available from ITFand UNECE.
10.4. Dissemination format - microdata access
Not applicable; only aggregated national data are reported.
The Common Questionnaire is a voluntary data collection, not supported by legal acts. It is completed by the competent national authorities, who are responsible for the main quality assurance. National data are reported through EDAMIS portal, which contains a number of data checks and controls (STRUVAL for structural validation and CONVAL for content validation). Further plausibility checks, growth rate checks and data validation control are carried out by Eurostat in the form of quality reports by country and theme.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
Eurostat routinely assesses timeliness, completeness and accuracy and follows this up with the data providers. The Common Questionnaire is modular: quality may vary from module to module, from sub-module to sub-module, from variable to variable and from country to country.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
Key users are: the European Commission, Directorate-General Mobility and Transport (MOVE); the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE); the International Transport Forum (ITF). These users are strongly involved in the design and development of the Common Questionnaire, thus user needs are generally considered to be well covered and integrated in the development process. Indicators for policy needs are extracted from the Common Questionnaire, such as the indicators on rail and road infrastructure.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
Not available.
12.3. Completeness
Dependent on the reporting competent national authority, mostly due to the voluntary nature of the data collection. The Common Questionnaire is modular: completeness may vary from module to module, from sub-module to sub-module and from variable to variable. Eurostat regularly follows up completeness with the reporting countries.
The deadline for the data transmission is 9-10 months after the reference period (calendar year). The intention is to publish in December N+1, or in January N+2.
14.2. Punctuality
The Common Questionnaire is modular: the punctuality generally varies from country to country, from module to module and from sub-module to sub-module.
In mid-October 2023, which was the official deadline for the CQ 2022 data collection, 26 EU MS upon 27 had provided figures, with 99 datasets upon 132 expected.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
Geographical comparability is generally high. Definitions are specified in the Glossary for transport statistics, 5th edition - 2019. These definitions are directly accessible through the hyperlinks in the questionnaires used by the competent national authorities to report data.
15.2. Comparability - over time
Comparability over time is generally good. The main structure of the Common Questionnaire and the definitions in the Glossary for transport statistics, 5th edition - 2019 are kept stable by the responsible organisations. The quality reports focus on the consistency over time.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
The Common Questionnaire on Transport Statistics provides data for infrastructure, transport equipment, enterprise economic performance and employment, traffic and transport measurement, complementing the statistics collected and compiled through legal acts. It is widely used by the Directorate-General Mobility and Transport of the European Commission (DG MOVE) for their publications.
15.4. Coherence - internal
The CONVAL validatiion rules assess the internal coherence of each module (theme).
Not available.
17.1. Data revision - policy
According to the data transmission rules, the reporting countries are encouraged to update incomplete dataset / revise datasets referring to previous collection rounds at the same time they submit new datasets.
17.2. Data revision - practice
Reported errors are corrected in the disseminated data as soon as the correct data have been validated.
18.1. Source data
Data are collected and compiled by the competent national authorities. Only aggregated national annual data are reported to Eurostat.
18.2. Frequency of data collection
Annual.
18.3. Data collection
Data collection methodology is determined by the competent national authorities and may vary from country to country.
18.4. Data validation
Data validation is carried out by the competent national authorities. Only aggregated national data are reported to Eurostat. National data are reported through the EDAMIS portal, which contains a number of data checks and controls (STRUVAL rules for the structure validation, CONVAL rules for the content validation). Further plausibility checks, growth rate checks and data validation controls are carried out by Eurostat in the form of quality reports / requests for clarification addressed to countries.
18.5. Data compilation
Data collection and compilation methodology is determined by the competent national authorities and varies from country to country. Based on the transport equipment data the following indicator is calculated with the help of population data:
Eurostat compiles itself the number of passenger cars per 1000 inhabitants (for a given year, this indicator is calculated on the basis of the stock of vehicles as of 31st December and the population figures as of 1st January of the following year).
The data in this dataset comes from the Common Questionnaire for Transport Statistics, developed and surveyed by Eurostat in cooperation between the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the International Transport Forum (ITF) at OECD.
The Common Questionnaire is not supported by a legal act, but is based on a gentlemen's agreement with the participating countries; its completeness varies from country to country.
Eurostat’s datasets based on the Common Questionnaire cover annual data for the EU Member States, EFTA states and Candidate countries to the EU. Data for other participating countries are available through the ITF and the UNECE. In total, comparable transport data collected through the Common Questionnaire is available for close to 60 countries worldwide.
The Common Questionnaire collects aggregated annual data on:
Railway transport
Road transport
Inland waterways transport
Oil pipelines transport
Road traffic - vehicle-kilometres
Buses (and coaches)
For each mode of transport, the Common Questionnaire covers some or all of the following sub-modules (the number of questions/variables within each sub-module varies between the different modes of transport):
Infrastructure (All modes)
Transport equipment (Rail, Road and Inland Waterways)
Enterprises, economic performance and employment (All modes)
Traffic (Rail, Road and Inland Waterways)
Transport measurement (All modes).
As its name suggests, the theme "Road traffic" focuses on "traffic" only, on road:
of national vehicle stocks, on national and foreign territories, by type of road; and by vehicle category, fuel type and age. These data should rely on odometer readings;
of national- and foreign-registered vehicles on national territories. These data should be issued from road censuses.
The theme “Buses and coaches” covers detailed information on road “traffic” (vkm) and “transport measurement” (passengers, passenger-km) performed by buses and coaches.
The data collection on Common Questionnaire was streamlined twice in the recent years:
In 2013, among other changes, the collection of employment data was terminated;
In 2019, among other changes, the collection of gas pipeline data was terminated, and the number of “Buses” indicators was reduced.
The Common Questionnaire is completed by the competent national authorities. The responsibility for completing specific modules (e.g. Transport by Rail) or part of modules (e.g. Road Infrastructure) may be delegated to other national authorities in charge of specific fields.
29 February 2024
The definitions used in the Common Questionnaire are specified in the Glossary for transport statistics, 5th edition - 2019.The Glossary is an official publication cin EN, FR, DE. Versions in most of EU official languages are available in Word format.
The Common Questionnaire is modular: The statistical unit varies from module to module.
Transport infrastructure and transport equipment on the national territory; enterprises involved in transport activities on the national territory; traffic and transport volumes (freight and passengers) on the national territory or made by vehicles registed in the territory.
Member States of the European Union; EFTA states; European Union Candidate countries and potential candidate(s). Further countries are covered by the ITF and UNECE, respectively. The Common Questionnaire is a voluntary data collection, based on a gentlemen's agreement with the participating countries.
Data are collected on a yearly basis.
Not available.
The Common Questionnaire is modular: The measurement unit varies from module to module.
Only aggregated national data are reported by the participating countries; no micro data or confidential data are reported.
Data collection and compilation methodology is determined by the competent national authorities and varies from country to country. Based on the transport equipment data the following indicator is calculated with the help of population data:
Eurostat compiles itself the number of passenger cars per 1000 inhabitants (for a given year, this indicator is calculated on the basis of the stock of vehicles as of 31st December and the population figures as of 1st January of the following year).
Data are collected and compiled by the competent national authorities. Only aggregated national annual data are reported to Eurostat.
Annually. An intermediate update can occur 1 or 2 months after 1st release.
The deadline for the data transmission is 9-10 months after the reference period (calendar year). The intention is to publish in December N+1, or in January N+2.
Geographical comparability is generally high. Definitions are specified in the Glossary for transport statistics, 5th edition - 2019. These definitions are directly accessible through the hyperlinks in the questionnaires used by the competent national authorities to report data.
Comparability over time is generally good. The main structure of the Common Questionnaire and the definitions in the Glossary for transport statistics, 5th edition - 2019 are kept stable by the responsible organisations. The quality reports focus on the consistency over time.
