D5 Annex report WP 3: ETIS Database methodology ... - ETIS plus

D5 Annex WP 3: DATABASE METHODOLOGY AND DATABASE USER
MANUAL – FREIGHT TRANSPORT DEMAND
Introduction
MDS­Transmodal were retained as subcontractors within the Concerted Action on Shortsea
Shipping contract to collect and process statistics that would form part of a detailed regional
traffic matrix for freight flows between EU member states and the rest of the world. Recent
studies have highlighted the importance of accurate OD matrices within transport modelling and
transport policy applications, and the absence of a single reliable source that takes advantage of
the regional statistics that are compiled at national levels.
The over­riding objectives of this work were therefore to:
· Obtain national sources of regional traffic,
· Process them into a common format, and to
· Combine them to create region­region flows.
Scope
There is no ideal set of definitions for a project of this nature, so an attempt has been made to
balance the need for detail with the need for robustness.
The geographical coverage has been designed to address the needs of projects related to short
sea shipping. This includes trade between EU and EFTA member countries, and also flows
between other nearby countries such as Eastern Europe, and the non­European Mediterranean.
Within member states, it has been necessary to design the zone structures so that they follow
existing regional boundaries used by the national governments. In general, it has been possible
to follow the NUTS (Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics) system designed by the
Statistical Office of the European Communities. However, different levels of precision have
been applied in different countries.
This amounts to a "central" matrix of 128 European (EU, Norway and Switzerland) zones,
surrounded by external zones defined either as countries or groups of countries.
As far as commodity detail is concerned, the SITC (Standard International Trade Classification)
system has been used, as this provides a hierarchical framework that works well at the national
level (where there is a detailed record of the commodity split) and regional levels (where the use
of sample data may require a more aggregated approach to commodity detail).
One particular advantage of the SITC system is that at the 2­digit level (65 different commodity
definitions) there is enough detail to be able to identify the main handling characteristics of
specific goods, particularly manufactures, without the need for several hundred definitions.
The alternative NST system is commonly used in Europe, but it has proved possible to convert
from NST to SITC wherever the need has arisen.
Sub­Division of Work
Document2
27 May 2004
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