Road

Structural data concerning road freight transport according to transport for hire or reward and transport on own account provides information about, for example, the structure of local units in Austria operating heavy goods vehicles and articulated lorries and can thus serve as an indicator for economic activity. With regard to passenger transports, the number of buses and the number of local units where these buses are registered is reported.

Traffic counts on Austria’s main roads were formerly conducted at five-year intervals. The most recent survey by Statistics Austria relates back to the year 2000. The information thereby obtained, which relates to average daily traffic volumes in each of the survey sections, broken down into vehicle types and into passenger, goods, heavy freight, working day, Sunday and holiday traffic, has been used in the context of traffic policy measures, for instance.

Since Austria’s accession to the European Community, the road freight transport survey has provided information about the transports of Austrian companies using heavy goods vehicles and articulated lorries registered in Austria on roads both within Austria and abroad. The detailed statistical data available to interested parties and decision-makers includes the number of transport means used, transport performance and transport volume in total or broken down into transport for hire and reward and transport of own account as well as by types of transport (inland transport, international receipt and dispatch, transit and other transports abroad).

Motor vehicle statistics provide substantiated information about both the stock of motor vehicles and registrations of new and used vehicles. For politics, society and the economy, they constitute a key basis for decisions relating to traffic policy and road traffic planning strategies.  
The motor vehicle statistics for Austria have been compiled by Statistics Austria since 1937. Since 1999, registration data has been forwarded daily via electronic means to Statistics Austria by the Austrian Insurance Association (VVO). Taking the previous year’s stock of motor vehicles as the basis, all vehicles – both old and new – registered during the year are added and deregistrations are deducted. The result is the stock for the given year. The existing data on new registrations is furthermore used to derive information about temporary registrations (temporary registrations of up to 7, 30, 60 or 90 days) and about CO₂ and fuel consumption data.

Accidents on Austria’s roads are analysed on the basis of statistics relating to road traffic accidents with persons injured. These enable, for example, the identification and elimination of accident black spots and the implementation of other traffic-related infrastructural, legislative and organisational measures for improving road safety. This helps to reduce the huge cost of accidents and the resulting negative impact on the national economy and, ultimately, prevent human suffering.

To prevent accidents caused by technical malfunctions and to protect the environment, all vehicles on the roads must comply with statutory standards. The data obtained in conjunction with the regular inspection in accordance with §57a Motor Vehicles Act (available in German only) provides information about the condition of vehicles undergoing inspection.

The driving licence register, which is installed at the Austrian Federal Computing Centre, is an information network. In 2008 data were forwarded to Statistics Austria for the first time to compile nationwide statistics on driving licence matters. First evaluations about driving licences and categories, beginning with the reporting year 2006, were published in July 2009.