Definition

The indicator use of means of transport is defined as percentage distribution (proportions) of the individual means of transport, which are mainly used by the population to cover distances, based on the total means of transport used.

Reference population

The survey includes the resident population in Germany (without age limitations). The survey is based on a population registry sample (2002, 2008, and 2017), and an additional telephone sample (2017). For children under the age of 10, the parents answered on their behalf. Children between the ages of 10 and 13 were either able to participate in the survey on their own or were able to have their parents represent them. At the age of 14 and older, the individuals should participate in the survey on their own, if possible. However, a representative from the household was possible (infas 2017; Nobis et al. 2018).

Data source

Mobility in Germany (MiD). MiD is a nationwide survey of households with regard to their transport behaviour. It is conducted on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrasructure (BMVI) (Nobis et al. 2018). Based on 316,361 persons surveyed, data on nearly one million distances covered was collected.

Calculation

• Description: Modal split of the used main means of transport. All used means of transport were captured for every covered distance that was mentioned by the participants. When naming only one means of transport, this was the main means of transport (question 1 & 2 (Eggs et al. 2018)). For distances consisting of several phases and for which different means of transport were used, the means of transport, with which the longest partial distance was most likely covered, was classified as main means of transport (Nobis et al. 2018). Due to smaller shares, the results for moped/motorcycle are not displayed graphically on this website. Additional details are summarized elsewhere (Eggs et al. 2018).

Question 1: Which means of transport did you use along the way? (multiple designations)

a) Walking
b) Electric bicycle/Pedelec
c) Bicycle
d) Moped/motor-assisted bicycle
e) Motorcycle
f) Moped/motor-assisted bicycle/motorcycle
g) One’s own or someone else’s private car
h) Carsharing vehicle
i) Lorry
j) City bus/regional bus
k) Underground/city railway
l) Tramway
m) Suburban railway/local passenger train
n) Hailed shared taxi/hailed bus or the like
o) Taxi
p) Ship/ferry
q) Long-distance train (e.g. ICE, InterCity, EuroCity)
r) Long-distance bus with regular service
s) Motor coach, not with regular service
t) Airplane
u) Other means of transport

Question 2: When covering distances by car, motorcycle, or lorry: Were you a driver or passenger when covering this distance?

1) Driver
2) Passenger
3) Both (driver change)

• Weighting: To obtain representative results for the population, weighting factors (e.g. age, sex, household size, education) were used. The weights are standardised by the number of cases. Extrapolation factors are used for the extrapolation to the entire German population. All extrapolation factors are issued separately for the specific questionnaires of the MiD (individual questionnaire, road questionnaire, etc.). Additional information is summarized in the user manual MiD (Nobis et al. 2018).

Data quality

The published tables specify all proportions without decimal place (infas 2017). Due to rounding, deviations of 100 percent can thus result, which are corrected in the published reports and graphics in order to ensure a 100 percent sum for the modal split distributions (infas 2017). Statistical imputation procedures were used for the first time in the MiD 2017 for calculating the characteristic mobility values ‘main means of transport’ because, compared to 2002 and 2003, missing and implausible information is increasingly included (Bäumer et al. 2019).