D5 Annex report WP 3: ETIS Database methodology ... - ETIS plus
D5 Annex report WP 3: ETIS Database methodology ... - ETIS plus
D5 Annex report WP 3: ETIS Database methodology ... - ETIS plus
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<strong>D5</strong> <strong>Annex</strong> <strong>WP</strong> 3: DATABASE METHODOLOGY AND DATABASE USER MANUAL –<br />
FREIGHT TRANSPORT DEMAND<br />
constructed databases; because of the estimates that have to be made the reliability of the data<br />
decreases with the increase of the level of detail.<br />
It therefore can be concluded that a reliable transport chain database with a high level of detail<br />
can only become available if these data are collected by forms like has been attempted in the<br />
MYSTIC project and is being tested in some national pilot exercises (France, Netherlands,<br />
Sweden) of which no final results have been obtained yet. In any other case the level of detail<br />
has to be reduced to come to a suitable reliability level.<br />
Restrictions on the Ideal <strong>Database</strong><br />
The issue to be discussed is what the ideal transport chain information to be collected must<br />
consist. In this chapter the problems to collect the data will be ignored but the focus will only be<br />
on possibilities and problems of construction and handling (usage) of such a database. An ideal<br />
situation of the database to be constructed will be shown. The ideal transport database has the<br />
following general restrictions:<br />
· Technical restrictions<br />
· Understandability<br />
· Policy requirements<br />
There still are some technical restrictions. If the database becomes large it becomes more<br />
complex and time consuming to perform manipulations and extractions. If the record structure<br />
becomes very complex it will take even more effort and time to develop the necessary software.<br />
Besides this technical side of having a large and complex database we also have the side of<br />
interpretation of the results from this database. If one wants to know the movements between an<br />
origin and destination it will be very important to know whether one wants to know the<br />
movements of the commodities or the vehicles. The difficulty lies in the fact that now also the<br />
movements between transhipment points should be taken into account, making it more complex<br />
to make the right restrictions on the database. When having made an extraction from the<br />
database for a certain origin and destination, what can be seen? Are these the end points of the<br />
vehicle/vessel trip? Does it mean that the commodities transported have actually been switched<br />
between modes? Are these endpoints also the origin and destination of the commodities or for<br />
which part of the total flow does this hold? Much information should be provided to be able to<br />
make the right interpretation of the figures obtained from the database.<br />
Also aggregated information, which one is used to, like for instance a modal split figure,<br />
becomes more complex. How do we define the modalsplit for a country knowing the transport<br />
chain structure of the database? To be able to provide a modalsplit one needs to make<br />
assumptions. These assumptions have to be provided together with the figures to be able to<br />
make the right interpretations.<br />
152<br />
Document2<br />
27 May 2004