REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the results of pilot studies carried out by Member States on statistics on passenger transport by inland waterways according to Article 5(3) of Regulation (EU) 2018/974
Date: 2021-02-12
Institutions: European Commission, Eurostat
Subjects: EU Member State, EU statistics, carriage of passengers, data collection, inland waterway, intra-EU transport, statistical method, transport statistics

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 12.2.2021  COM(2021) 59 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on the results of pilot studies carried out by Member States on statistics on passenger transport by inland waterways according to Article 5(3) of Regulation (EU) 2018/974   
 
 
1. 

INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND 

In  Europe,  inland  waterways  play  an  important  role  in  the  transport  system  and  there  is 
significant potential for their role to increase. Within the European Union, 20 Member States 
have inland waterways and 12 of them have an interconnected waterway network. 
In  its  Report  on  unleashing  the  potential  of  waterborne  passenger  transport1,  the  European 
Parliament underlines the importance of freight and passenger statistics for developing plans 
and  policies  for  the  waterborne  transport  sector.  Furthermore,  it  requests  the  European 
Commission  to  ‘develop  a  system  for  harmonised  collection  of  statistics  on  accidents  and 
incidents for inland waterway vessels, including cross-border traffic’. 

The  Commission  aims  to  promote  and  strengthen  the  competitive  position  of  inland 
waterways in the transport system and to facilitate its integration into the intermodal logistics 
chain2. 
Regulation  (EU)  2018/974 3  does  not  cover  statistics  on  passenger  transport  by  inland 
waterways. The key data required to assess the size of this market and its potential for growth 
would be the number of passengers by country and by individual market sector, such as river 
cruises,  mini  cruises,  ferries  and  urban  transport.  If  it  proves  possible,  the  collection  of 
passenger-kilometres would be a solid indicator for measuring the performance of the sector. 

Article 5 of Regulation (EU) 2018/974 requires the Commission, together with the Member 
States,  to  investigate  the  development  of  statistics  on  passenger  transport  by  inland 
waterways, including cross-border transport services.  

      ‘Article 5 

      Pilot studies  

1. By 8 December 2018, the Commission, in cooperation with the Member States, shall develop 
the appropriate methodology for compiling statistics on passenger transport by inland 
waterways, including by cross-border transport services.  

2.  By  8  December  2019,  the  Commission  shall  launch  voluntary  pilot  studies  to  be  carried 
out by Member States that provide data within the scope of this regulation on the availability 
of  statistical data  relating to  passenger transport by inland waterways, including by  cross-
border services. Those pilots shall aim to assess the feasibility of those new data collections, 
the costs of the related data collections and the statistical quality implied.  

3. By 8 December 2020, the Commission shall submit a report to the European Parliament 
and to the Council on the result of such pilot studies. Depending on the results of that report, 
and  within  a  reasonable  period,  the  Commission  shall  submit,  if  appropriate,  a  legislative 
proposal  to  the  European  Parliament  and  to  the  Council  to  amend  this  regulation  with 
regard  to  statistics  on  passenger  transport  by  inland  waterways,  including  by  cross-border 
transport services. 

4.  The  general  budget  of  the  Union  shall,  where  appropriate  and  taking  into  account  the 
Union's added value, contribute to the financing of those pilot studies.’ 

1 Report on unleashing the potential of waterborne passenger transport (2015/2350 (INI)), 19.10.2016. 
2 Roadmap  to  a  Single  European  Transport  Area  -  Towards  a  competitive  and  resource  efficient  transport 

system, COM(2011) 144 final. 

3 Regulation (EU) 2018/974 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2018 on statistics of goods 

transport by inland waterways, OJ 179, 16.7.2018, p. 14.  

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Eurostat,  in  cooperation  with  the  Member  States,  started  to  develop  a  methodology  for 
compiling statistics on passenger transport by inland waterways. 

In  October  2016,  Eurostat  set  up  a  Task  Force  with  the  mandate  to  work  on  the  draft 
methodology  for  collecting  data  on  statistics  relating  to  passenger  transport  by  inland 
waterways. The Task Force consisted of volunteer Member States (Austria, Croatia, France, 
Germany,  the  Netherlands,  Poland  and  Romania),  the  Commission  (Eurostat  and  the 
Directorate-General  for  Mobility  and  Transport)  and  the  Central  Commission  for  the 
Navigation of the Rhine. Its first meeting took place on 28 February 2017 and the second one 
was organised on 18 October 2017 back-to-back with the 2017 meeting of the Expert Group 
on  Inland  Waterways.  The  Expert  Group  and  the  Coordinating  Group  for  Statistics  on 
Transport (CGST) supervised and discussed the work on the methodology in their 2017 and 
2018 meetings. 

In  line  with  Regulation  (EU)  2018/974,  this  draft  methodology  was  finalised  in  December 
2018 and provided for a trial phase with pilot studies funded by EU grants. In June/July 2019, 
seven countries launched pilot  studies: Germany, Croatia, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, 
Romania and Sweden. The pilot studies assessed the draft methodology and commented on 
the  feasibility,  costs,  burden  and  statistical  quality  of  their  data  on  passenger  transport  by 
inland waterways.  

The  countries  supplied  their  pilot  studies  and  reports  on  the  collection  of  data  and  the 
implementation of the draft methodology in June/July 2020. 

This  report  presents  the  results  of  the  pilot  studies  on  the  feasibility  of  collecting  new  data 
and  its  statistical  quality,  on  the  related  methodology,  and  on  the  costs  and  burdens  for 
Member States.  

Furthermore, the report briefly presents the results of a country survey on statistics relating to 
passenger  transport  by  inland  waterways  carried  out  in  March  2020.  The  survey  aimed  to 
provide  an  overview  of  the  situation  in  the  Member  States  beyond  the  seven  countries  that 
carried out pilot studies. 

2. 

RESULTS OF PILOT STUDIES ON PASSENGER STATISTICS 

The pilot studies had two deliverables:  

a. 

A  report  commenting  on  the  implementation  of  the  draft  methodology,  proposing 
methodological  improvements  and  assessing  the  feasibility,  costs,  burden  and 
statistical quality of potentially collecting data on passenger transport statistics. 

b. 

Data collected in each country for the following tables: 

  A1  (Number  of  passengers  transported  by  country  of  embarkation,  country  of 

disembarkation, type of transport and type of vessel);  

  A2 (River cruises - number of passengers, passenger-kilometres  and number of 
trips  by  region  of  embarkation,    region  of  disembarkation,  nationality  of  vessel 
and type of cruise);  

  B1 (Number of passenger-kilometres travelled by type of vessel other than a river 

cruise vessel); and 

  C1 (Number of vessels registered in a country by type of vessel, vessel capacity 

and vessel age). 

2 

 
 
2.1. 

DATA SOURCES AND METHODOLOGY 

This  section  summarises  the  data  sources  that  were  used  and  the  methodology  that  was 
applied in the seven countries that conducted pilot studies.  

Austria 

The Automatic Identification System (AIS) is used to track and trace vessels and qualifies as 
a  data  source;  the  AIS  transponder  on  board  a  vessel  enables  the  exchange  of  information 
relevant to positioning and identification between vessels. To support this system, Austria has 
23  Danube  River  Information  Services  base  stations  to  receive  inland  AIS  data.  The  AIS 
datasets  contain  one  dataset  per  ship  and  day;  these  datasets  are  extractions  of  the  AIS 
information and include 23 variables.  

The names of shipping companies are taken from the Statistical Business Register, although 
foreign shipping companies are not obliged to notify Austrian authorities when they transport 
passengers  in  Austria.  The  AIS  data  provide  information  on  all  ships  that  operate  on  the 
Austrian section of the Danube, including data and positions, but foreign companies are more 
difficult to contact. 

The AIS data is not sufficient to identify the location of embarkation and disembarkation for 
long cross-border cruises, as AIS data is only received for the Austrian section of the Danube 
and for a few kilometres after the border. Web scraping can be used for timetables and routes, 
and  the  website  www.cruisecompete.com  serves  as  a  benchmark  for  itineraries  related  to 
Austria.  Given  the  simple  and  clear  layout  and  implementation  of  the  website,  it  is  well-
suited to web scraping. Furthermore, information on timetables for ferries and other day-trip 
passages was obtained by consulting the websites of individual companies.  

The ship register allows for both obligatory and optional registrations, depending on certain 
criteria. The pilot study found that the quality of the register is not sufficient to provide the 
data requested for dataset C1; moreover, the register in its current form is only available in 
hard copy, although digitalisation of the register is planned.  

Further  sources  for  passenger  data  are  Viadonau  (collecting  passenger  data  for  day-trip 
vessels  on  a  voluntary  basis  for  their  annual  report),  Donauraum  Wien  (providing  a  yearly 
aggregate  of  passenger  numbers  for  every  ship)  and  a  lock  at  the  German/Austrian  border 
(publishing passenger numbers and data on the numbers of vessels passing through the lock). 

The methodology for collecting data differentiated between river cruise companies and other 
companies offering passenger transport.  

The  five  river  cruise  companies  located  in  Austria  were  contacted  (via  expert  interviews, 
phone  and  email).  In  order  to  collect  relevant  data  for  passenger  transport  other  than  river 
cruises, a questionnaire was prepared and about half of the 36 questionnaires were completed.  

For  the  data  analysis,  AIS  data  were  combined  with  itineraries  and  the  AIS  data  were 
analysed for cruise vessels and day-trip vessels.  

In  order  to  calculate  a  general  estimator  for  the  passenger  occupancy  rate  for  all  vessels, 
information from the AIS data was used along with additional passenger data for docks. The 
calculation was carried out by identifying the vessels and assigning their maximum passenger 
capacity.  

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Croatia 

Croatia identified the Harbour Master’s Offices and port authorities as the main data source. 
Harbour  Master’s  Offices  collect  some  passenger  data  for  their  own  purposes  from  various 
sources,  including  reports  on  the  arrival  and  departure  of  the  vessel,  port  authorities  and 
vessel owners  (shippers, municipalities, etc.). Meetings  with  four Harbour Master’s  Offices 
concluded that data are available on vessels’ previous and next ports of arrival or departure. 
These  meetings  also  concluded  that  data  are  available  on  the  numbers  of  embarked  and 
disembarked passengers, types of vessel and vessels’ flags. However, data on the port of first 
embarkation of passengers and last disembarkation are not available for three out of the four 
Offices; one Office receives this information, but on a voluntary basis.  

In terms of methodology, Croatia applies the territoriality principle for data collection. Data 
for all vessels arriving and departing from ports on Croatian inland waterways are collected 
irrespective  of  the  vessel’s  country  of  registration.  The  collection  of  data  on  passenger 
transport  is  thus  in  line  with  freight  transport  statistics,  as  it  includes  national  and 
international transport of passengers.  

For data on river cruises, the port of first embarkation of passengers and last disembarkation 
are  not  available  and  it  is  not  possible  to  determine  the  region  of  embarkation  and 
disembarkation.  This  might  change  in  the  future  when  there  are  administrative  sources  of 
data.  For  data  on  day-trip  vessels,  a  reporting  threshold  should  be  set  for  small  transport 
operations,  taking  cost  effectiveness  and  confidentiality  into  account.  Regarding  passenger 
transport on ferries, Harbour Master’s Offices collect data on numbers of passengers for their 
own needs and request data annually from ship owners, concessionaries, municipalities and 
ferry companies; Croatia considers that the definition of ferries should be more detailed. 

Germany 

The  statistical  business  register  qualifies  as  a  data  source  and  is  used  both  to  analyse  the 
business  population  and to  prepare and coordinate surveys.  It  contains information  on legal 
units,  companies  and  their  local  units,  and  on  the  connection  between  register  units. 
Structural  business  statistics  are  another  data  source,  providing  information  on  production, 
cost  structure,  fixed  assets,  employment  and  annually  produced  information  on  business 
demography.  

Surveys  of  businesses  engaged  in  transport  on  inland  waterways  are  conducted  annually. 
These  include  information  on  the  type  of  inland  navigation  activity,  the  number  of  persons 
employed in inland navigation, turnover from activities, and the number, loading and space 
capacity and engine power of the vessels. 

Furthermore,  quarterly  turnover  figures  for  passengers  on  inland  navigation  routes  are 
available,  and  the  implementation  of  Regulation  (EU)  2019/2152  on  European  Business 
Statistics4 is not expected to change the content of the data that is currently provided.  

The  Central  Commission  for  the  Navigation  of  the  Rhine  provides  data  on  the  market 
monitoring of European navigation on inland waterways, including information on the fleet 
size and on supply and demand on river cruises and day-trip vessels. Basic information about 
the river cruise industry is also published by the River Cruise Community of Interests. 

4 Regulation (EU) 2019/2152 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 November 2019 on European 
business statistics, repealing 10 legal acts in the field of business statistics (OJ L 327, 17.12.2019, p. 1). 

4 

 
 
                                                           
The  statistics  presented  by  Germany  only  include  companies  headquartered  in  the  country, 
resulting in a lack of information on services provided by foreign companies.  

The Central Inland Waterway Stock File (ZBBD) provides administrative data on the stock of 
vessels for table C1 from which information can be taken at the required level of detail.  

As it was not possible to identify a source that contains information in a structured, complete 
and  reliable  form  on  foreign  companies,  the  study  only  included  companies  based  in 
Germany.  

In terms of methodology, research on alternative data sources (e.g. administrative data) was 
carried out, but the conclusion was that such alternative sources are not available. 

An online questionnaire was developed for the survey, which was designed to be used by all 
businesses  irrespective  of  their  market  segment.  The  survey  units  were  based  on  the  legal 
units that make up these businesses, as defined in the national regulation on statistical units.   

No  quantitative  information  was  collected  in  the  business  survey.  Instead,  businesses  were 
asked whether the relevant data was available and what costs would be incurred in collecting 
this  data.  This  approach  was  chosen  since  there  is  no  possibility  to  oblige  businesses  to 
provide information. 

The Netherlands 

Data sources stem from the reference frame of ships, where a number of institutions have to 
record  ship-related  information.  However,  most  of  the  information  is  not  up-to-date  or  the 
institutions do not have a comprehensive overview of the necessary information. The existing 
data could be used to produce Table C1 and could be complemented later with information 
provided by ship operators. 

Passenger  transport  constitutes  another  source.  The  River  Information  System  exchanges 
information about ships on inland waterways, including information on passenger transport, 
routes  and  loads.  As  only  a  small  part  of  passenger  ships  are  registered  in  the  River 
Information System, the data are not of sufficient quality. Shippers can voluntarily submit the 
number of passengers on the ship recorded in the AIS and, since there is limited access to it, 
the AIS data are likely to be incomplete.  

The  reference  frame  of  enterprises  is  another  data  source,  and  businesses  on  the  register 
functioned as the sampling population for the pilot study. However, one problem is that the 
register only contains businesses that have passenger transport on inland waterways as their  
main  activity  and  does  not  contain  information  on  the  ships  owned  or  operated  by  the 
enterprises. 

Data  was  collected  by  means  of  a  web  survey,  to  which  a  threshold  of  more  than  12 
passengers was applied. The response rate to the web survey was about 50%. 

The responses to the survey showed the lack of clear differences between ferries and urban 
and regional transport. It is therefore recommended either to have a more specific definition 
of a ferry or to integrate ferries and urban and regional transport into one category. 

Poland 

Data  on  passenger  transport  is  obtained  by  a  questionnaire  addressed  directly  to  entities 
registered  in  Poland  who  transport  passengers.  Thus,  the  study  did  not  cover  entities 

5 

 
 
 
 
registered  in  countries  outside  Poland  that  carry  passengers  on  Polish  inland  waterways. 
Poland  selected  entities  from  the  National  Official  Register  of  National  Economy,  whose 
main registered activities are passenger transport and freight transport on inland waterways, 
based on the Polish Classification of Activities. An online electronic questionnaire was sent 
to operators providing passenger services on inland waterways.   

Data  for  Polish-registered  passenger  vessels  on  inland  waterways  were  obtained  from 
registers  kept  by  the  Inland  Waterways  Authorities.  The  differentiation  between  inland 
waterways river cruise vessels and day-trip vessels does not result directly from the register, 
but  from  the  technical  documentation  of  the  registered  vessels.  In  Poland,  vessels  are 
registered  according  to  the  type  of  vessel  and  not  by  the  functions  they  perform.  Based  on 
technical  data,  vessels  with  12  and  more  passenger  seats  are  divided  into  vessels  with  and 
without  passenger  cabins.  It  is  not  possible  to  distinguish  registered  transport  vessels  from 
urban  transport  vessels  since  such  services  can  be  performed  both  by  vessels  registered  as 
inland waterways day cruise vessels and those registered as other non-cruise ships.  

Web scraping was also used to search for relevant content and identify businesses classified 
under  the  Polish  Classification  of  Activities  as  ‘Inland  waterways  passenger  transport’  and 
‘Inland waterways freight transport’.  

In  addition,  information  from  industry  journals,  associations,  initiatives  and  institutions 
related to inland waterway transport, as well as information gained from  media monitoring, 
was used to develop the survey.  

For verification purposes, the information obtained during a statutory quarterly survey on the 
number of vessels involved in transport by inland waterways was another source used when 
developing the survey.  

Among all transport modes, passenger transport by inland waterways accounts for only 0.3% 
of  the  total  number  of  passengers,  excluding  public  transport.  National  inland  waterways 
therefore play a marginal role in passenger transport in Poland. 

Romania 

Data were collected through a quarterly survey in 2019 to produce the indicators for statistics 
on transport by inland waterways. Within this project, the authorities developed an IT tool for 
data collection based on the Eurostat methodology. 

Data on passenger transport by inland waterways were collected from operators authorised to 
provide this  type of transport, who self-registered for the survey;  data on inland waterways 
cruises were collected from Regional Harbour Masters and from authorised companies.  

The  questionnaire  collected  data  for  the  indicators  in  datasets  A1,  A2  and  B1.  Data  on 
registered passengers refer to passengers transported by inland waterways vessels. In dataset 
B1, the passenger-kilometre indicator is calculated by summing up the results of the number 
of passengers multiplied by the distances in kilometres actually travelled by these passengers. 
The  indicator  for  passengers  transported  is  aggregated  in  dataset  A1,  with  the  number  of 
passengers  summed  up  by  origin/destination.  The  passenger-kilometre  indicator  for  cruise 
passengers  in  dataset  A2  is  calculated  according  to  the  type  of  cruise  and  the  distance 
travelled within Romania. Data is aggregated according to the type of cruise, the nationality 
of the ship, the region of embarkation/disembarkation and the number of trips.  

For  the  information  on  ports  of  embarkation  and  disembarkation,  a  list  of  ports  offering 
passenger  transport  was  selected  from  the  list  of  ports  for  freight  transport  by  inland 

6 

 
 
 
waterways.  It  was  completed  by  including  ports  whose  activities  exclusively  involve 
passenger transport by inland waterways.  

The Regional Harbour Masters were the source for data on passengers on cruise ships passing 
through ports along the Danube. The information regarding the origin and destination of the 
cruise,  communicated  by  the  ship’s  captain  to  the  representative  of  the  Regional  Harbour 
Master, was used to establish the distance travelled within Romania. The distance, expressed 
in kilometres, was calculated based on the navigation map of the Danube and the location of 
the ports in the list of ports for inland waterways.  

For dataset C1, statistics on the number of vessels registered in the country by type of vessel, 
vessel capacity and vessel age were based on data from the Romanian Naval Authority.  

Sweden 

The Business Database constitutes one of the data sources in Sweden and provides a selection 
of  data  from  companies.  Another  source  is  a  register  (supervisory  system)  that  includes 
vessels with a capacity of more than 12 passengers,  commercial vessels at least five metres 
long  and  leisure  craft  exceeding  12  metres.  This  register  is  obligatory  for  all  passenger 
vessels  and  contains  information  about  the  registered  owners  and  the  party  registered  as  a 
company.  Furthermore,  the  Swedish  industry  organisation  for  the  owners  of  commercial 
vessels  operating  at  national  level  qualifies  as  a  data  source  and  serves  to  supplement  the 
other sources given the considerable overlap in terms of companies and vessels. In addition to 
that,  information  on  routes  and  departure  frequencies  on  public  transport  ferry  lines  can  be 
obtained from the Swedish collaboration of public transport companies. It is also possible to 
view the position of the vessels with AIS transponders and to track their movements.  

In  terms  of  methodology,  an  online  questionnaire  was  used  to  gather  information  on  the 
vessel, the mileage sailed and the number of passengers. The  response  rate was about  50% 
and the data was sufficient to draw conclusions regarding future data collection. 

In  view  of  Sweden’s  unique  conditions  in  terms  of  waterborne  travel  around  the  coast, 
Sweden proposes to introduce ‘Archipelago traffic’ as an additional vessel category.  

2.2. 

FEASIBILITY, COST, BURDEN AND STATISTICAL QUALITY 

This section summarises the assessments of the seven countries regarding the feasibility, cost, 
burden and statistical quality of the data collection. 

Austria 

For river cruises, it is considered feasible to produce passenger transport statistics combining 
the AIS data, web scraping techniques and passenger occupancy rates. Interviews with a few 
Austrian companies led to additional information about this sector; however, as Austria-based 
cruise  companies  represent  a  minority  of  cruise  companies  operating  in  the  country,  a 
collection of passenger data only from them would not be sufficient. 

Regarding passenger transport on inland waterways other than river cruises, the development 
of a questionnaire for companies is considered to be an adequate way to produce the relevant 
statistics. AIS data could also be used to estimate kilometres and verify reported distances. 

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Austria suggests establishing a ship register based on the country of registration and to set it 
up  solely  on  the  basis  of  AIS  data.  Since  there  is  currently  no  up-to-date  ship  register  in 
Austria, either a new register could be created, based on AIS information on Austrian ships, 
or the existing vessel register could be digitalised and updated.  

If  passenger  data  were  to  be  collected  regularly,  appropriate  IT  infrastructure  equivalent  to 
the  systems  used  to  collect  other  data  would  have  to  be  built.  Furthermore,  the  cost  of  an 
appropriate preliminary handling time has to be considered. This cost is particularly high for 
the  first  year  of  data  collection.  In  addition  to  that,  resources  for  building  and  maintaining 
web scrapers would have to be taken into account.  

With a view to ensuring statistical quality and improving the methodology, there should be an 
obligation to transmit AIS data rather than the passenger capacity of the vessel. Furthermore, 
transmitting only the region of embarkation and the region of disembarkation as the furthest 
point of the cruise would underestimate the calculated distance. This issue could be addressed 
if  countries  were  able  to  transmit  passenger-kilometres  for  cruises  as  they  do  for  freight 
transport.  

Croatia 

The  collection  of  passenger  data  is  generally  considered  to  be  feasible.  However,  data  on 
country/region  of  embarkation  and  disembarkation  in  most  cases  is  not  available  or  only 
partially  available,  and  it  was  not  possible  to  determine  the  type  of  each  cruise.  It  would 
therefore  be  better  to  collect  and  publish  data  on  passenger  traffic  in  ports  for  inland 
waterways,  rather  than  data  on  the  numbers  of  passengers  transported,  since  data  on  the 
passengers who embark and disembark at each port are available.  

The cost of conducting regular statistical surveys on passenger transport by inland waterways 
would  be  acceptable,  as  would  the  reporting  burden  on  the  Harbour  Master’s  Offices.  The 
digitalisation of the survey and the use of administrative data from the Ministry would reduce 
even more the costs and reporting burden.   

Croatia concludes that the data collected through the pilot study is of good quality.   

Germany 

In terms of feasibility, administrative data can be used in some cases or will be available in 
the  future  as  a  data  source  without  the  need  for  a  business  survey.  However,  a  business 
survey is needed to produce data on the characteristics of passenger shipping for tables A1, 
A2 and B1.  

In terms of statistical quality, businesses noted several reporting problems. For data request 
B1,  three-fifths  of  businesses  do  not  have  the  information  required  to  calculate  passenger-
kilometres. About half of businesses do not have the information required for tables A1 and 
A2.  Thus,  businesses  will  have  to  work  on  estimates,  which  will  have  an  impact  on  the 
quality of the information. Against this background, reporting at multi-year intervals could be 
considered.  

The issue of domestic transport services provided by foreign businesses could be addressed 
by establishing a European register of businesses.  

8 

 
 
 
 
Regarding the burden on businesses, there is a need to limit the list of characteristics to those 
that are necessary, reduce the burden on smaller businesses and exempt micro-businesses. A 
passenger capacity of 12 should be considered as a cut-off point.  

The  annual  cost  of  the  project  on  passenger  transport  on  inland  waterways  is  estimated  at 
roughly EUR 100 000 for businesses. For the public authorities and the statistical office, there 
will be a total one-off cost of around EUR 640 000 and annual running costs of around EUR 
135 000.  

The Netherlands 

The Netherlands considers it feasible to generate statistics on passenger transport and many 
parties  contacted  for  the  research  have  shown  interest  in  the  related  statistical  information. 
However, more research is needed to link ships to companies and to scale up sample data to 
the  complete  population.  Whilst  most  variables  can  be  obtained  from  companies,  there  are 
concerns  about  passenger-kilometres,  as  the  survey  showed  difficulties  for  companies 
operating day-trips to establish this data. The quality of data on ships’ characteristics is not 
sufficient in the current  database, but  could be improved in the long run with the use of an 
up-to-date European ship database.  

On statistical  quality, problems arise for foreign companies operating on Dutch waterways, 
resulting  in  an  under-coverage  of  foreign  companies.  Data  on  numbers  of  passengers  and 
passenger-kilometres  constitute  a  particular  problem,  which  could  be  at  least  partially 
addressed  by  exchanging  data  on  relevant  European  companies.  Since  foreign  companies 
account for a significant part of passenger transport on inland waterways in the Netherlands, 
especially in the river cruise market, the methodology would have to be developed to make 
up for the missing data.  

The Netherlands recommends applying a passenger capacity threshold of over 12 passengers, 
applying  an  extra  restriction  to  include  only  motorised  vessels,  not  sailing  vessels,  and  to 
consider replacing the term ‘type of vessel’ with ‘type of journey’.  It is  proposed to collect 
data  annually  and  to  conduct  the  survey  at  the  beginning  of  the  year.  The  ‘territoriality 
principle’ should also be applied.  

The  Netherlands  emphasises  the  importance  of  not  over-burdening  smaller  companies  or 
companies  with  a  complicated  pattern  of  routes  by,  for  example,  not  asking  them  to  report 
annually.   

The costs for new statistics on passenger transport include further methodological  research, 
scaling  up  data  from  the  sample  to  the  population  and  developing  and  executing  the  new 
survey and analysis. These costs are estimated at about EUR 76 000.  

Poland 

The collection of passenger statistics for inland waterways is basically feasible, even though 
there are limitations.  

Dataset  A1  does  not  include  data  on  the  number  of  passengers  transported  on  inland 
waterways by river cruise vessels, as the entities covered by the pilot study did not  use this 
type of vessel. There was also no passenger transport carried out by vessels classified in the 
set  as  ‘unknown’.  For  dataset  B1,  based  on  the  analysis  of  the  passenger  transport  market, 
information was obtained on river cruise vessels operating under foreign flags that also call at 
seaports. 

9 

 
 
 
 
The  pilot  study  helped  to  develop  datasets  A1  and  B1.  However,  on  the  basis  of  the  data 
obtained from the port authority, it is not possible to fill in the A2 dataset, as only the number 
of passengers who returned on board after disembarkation is known and the total number of 
passengers  carried  is  therefore  not  known.  Another  difficulty  is  the  fact  that  data  on  the 
number of passengers are provided by the harbour master’s office collectively for the entire 
month and not separately for each cruise. 

It was possible to develop dataset C1 based on the data that was obtained through the survey. 
Official  statistics  provide  information  on  the  number  of  passenger  vessels  registered  in  the 
country, but these data do not include a division in the type of vessel, specifying the age and 
load capacity of the vessel in a particular type. Inland Waterways Authorities are responsible 
for keeping registers of inland waterways vessels.  

It was not possible to distinguish urban transport ships among registered vessels based on the 
data that was obtained.   

The quality of the results from  the pilot  study  was assessed as satisfactory.  For businesses, 
data on the number of passengers transported are estimated according to the number of tickets 
sold  and  the  loading  factor.  Similarly,  the  quality  of  the  available  data  for  registered 
passenger vessels on inland waterways was regarded as satisfactory. The data was obtained 
from administrative registers, in accordance with national legislation.  

In  view  of  the  difficulties  encountered,  the  biggest  challenge  was  to  correctly  identify  the 
entities  carrying  out  passenger  transport  activities.  Furthermore,  entities  conducting  this 
activity often do not keep strict records of the data covered by the survey. Thus, these data 
are often estimated on the basis of the average vessel capacity, which implies difficulties in 
verifying whether they are correct.  

For costs and burdens, a study with a narrower scope has been carried out for many years on 
registered passenger vessels for inland waterways. Given the scope of data currently obtained 
from  official  statistics,  which  is  based  on  the  secondary  use  of  administrative  sources,  the 
additional burden of extending the scope of the study was assessed as negligible. The use of 
administrative sources for the development of new statistics also does not create significant 
costs.   

If  the  scope  of  the  current  research  were  to  be  extended,  to  include  information  on  the 
direction of passenger transport on inland waterways and to entities providing ferry transport 
and  urban  transport  vessels,  it  could  mean  additional  burdens  and  costs  for  companies. 
However, as this would just imply an extension of the existing survey, the additional burden 
would be insignificant.  

Romania 

In  order  to  collect  data,  the  statistical  questionnaire,  methodological  approach  and 
supplementary specifications were sent by mail to the Territorial Statistical Offices. 

Variables  regarding  the  number  of  passengers  by  type  of  vessel  in  national  transport  were 
available  and  provided  by  the  respondents  according  to  the  methodological  requirements; 
these variables can be included in the usual production of data. The collection of data on the 
number  of  passengers  transported  by  port  of  embarkation/disembarkation  was  carried  out 
without any processing problems. 

The  collection  and  production  of  data  for  day-trip  vessels,  ferries  and  urban  and  regional 
transport  vessels  is  feasible  and  could  be  organised  on  a  regular  basis  (quarterly  and/or 

10 

 
 
 
annually). Furthermore, a detailed collection of variables on ship capacity and age, regarding 
the number of ships registered by the Romanian Naval Authority, was carried out without any 
problems in interpreting the methodology. Therefore, the data needed to complete dataset C1 
can be collected and transmitted annually.  

However,  with  a  view  to  upholding  data  quality,  data  collection  cannot  be  carried  out  on 
cruise  vessels  on  inland  waterways.  The  difficulties  encountered  relate  mainly  to  the 
reliability of passenger data on cruises along the Danube and are due to the subjective way in 
which  information  is  processed;  this  includes  establishing  the  origin/destination  of  the  trip, 
distance travelled, number of passengers and type of cruise. Accordingly, this type of data on 
cruise vessels will be excluded from annual data production.  

No  additional  burden  was  reported  for  the  collection  of  passenger  transport  statistics,  and 
there were no comments about additional costs. 

Sweden 

Sweden  confirms  that  it  is  possible  to  collect  data  for  all  passengers  transported  and  the 
numbers  of  kilometres  travelled,  to  be  able  to  calculate  passenger-kilometres.  While  some 
respondents do not currently measure vessel-kilometres, it would be possible to obtain such 
data if the systems were reconfigured. It is therefore possible to generate passenger statistics 
on vessel movements on inland waterways, albeit with certain difficulties. These difficulties 
relate mainly to data for passenger-kilometres and the disclosure of data regarding the type of 
vessel.  

Concerning statistical quality, Sweden will be unable to provide complete data for Tables A1 
and  A2  for  river  cruise  vessels  with  cabins  for  overnight  stays,  although  such  difficulties 
could be overcome with a modified breakdown. Furthermore, register data cannot be used to 
provide  all  the  data  for  Table  C1.  Data  regarding  river  cruise  vessels,  day-trip  vessels  and 
urban/regional  transport  vessels  are  lacking,  while  only  vessels  classified  as  ferries  can  be 
reported.  

Any future data collection process will have to clearly state the purpose of the collection. A 
reporting obligation will be imposed in case of a permanent survey.  

As to the burden, most respondents were able to quickly provide the information sought and 
most respondents reported that they did not find the questionnaire very demanding. Sweden 
therefore concludes that the reporting burden is moderate.  

To facilitate matters for the respondents and to lower the costs, data could be obtained from 
AIS and passenger-kilometres could thus be calculated. In terms of benefits to users, statistics 
on  passenger  traffic  could  be  used  in  trend  monitoring,  market  development  and  general 
external monitoring. 

Sweden  considers  the  cost,  as  measured  in  time  per  respondent,  to  be  relatively  low  and 
estimates it to be less than SEK 60 000 per survey.  

2.3. 

SUMMARY OF THE RESULTS OF THE PILOT STUDIES 

The  seven  pilot  studies  give  an  overview  of  the  feasibility  of  collecting  data  on  passenger 
transport by inland waterways. The main comments by the countries involved, as described in 
their detailed reports, are summarised below. 

11 

 
 
 
 
The  studies  have  shown  significant  differences  in  the  collection  of  data  on  passenger 
transport  by  inland  waterways  between  the  seven  countries,  so  it  is  not  appropriate  to 
compare all indicators obtained. 

The studies revealed a large range of data sources on which statistics for passenger transport 
by  inland  waterways  could  be  built.  The  sources  most  referred  to  were  web  scraping,  the 
enhanced  use  of  the  AIS  and  ship  registers.  Other  relevant  sources  are  harbour  masters’ 
offices, port authorities, statistical business registers, structural business statistics, short-term 
turnover figures, the River Information System and external data providers.  

Existing administrative data are not comprehensive enough to meet the requirements of sound 
statistical  collection. Targeted surveys  would have to  be conducted in  order to  complement 
the various sources and to obtain more complete and standardised data. The extent to which 
additional targeted surveys would be needed differs between the seven countries. 

Current sources need to be improved in terms of volume and quality of their data in order to 
provide information required for Tables A1 (Number of passengers transported by country of 
embarkation,  country  of  disembarkation,  type  of  transport  and  type  of  vessel),  A2  (River 
cruises  -  number  of  passengers,  passenger-kilometres    and  number  of  trips  by  region  of 
embarkation,  region of disembarkation, nationality of vessel and type of cruise), B1 (Number 
of passenger-kilometres    travelled by type of vessel other than a river cruise vessel) and C1 
(Number of vessels registered in a country by type of vessel, vessel capacity and vessel age). 
At the current stage, not all seven countries are able to provide all variables.  

The pilot studies have raised quality issues related to the shortcomings of the administrative 
data  and  the  reporting  by  companies.  Particular  problems  were  identified  for  passenger-
kilometres, as many companies are not in a position to provide all the information required to 
calculate  passenger-kilometres;  reporting  difficulties  regarding  day-trips  and  the  average 
occupancy rate were also frequently noted. In addition, some companies do not have all the 
required  information  in  the  case  of  ship  charters  or  specific  ticket  offers.  Given  these 
shortcomings, companies have to make estimates, which has an impact on the quality of the 
information they provide.  

Information gaps in ship registers affect reporting on vessels, and one way to collect data on 
vessels  is  to  link  any  survey  directly  to  business  registers.  This  way,  vessels  are  identified 
through  the  company  that  owns  them.  However,  in  business  registers,  only  companies  that 
carry  out  passenger  transport  by  inland  waterways  as  their  main  activity  are  listed  under 
NACE/Rev.2  Class  50.30.  Consequently,  companies  that  provide  passenger  transport  by 
inland  waterways  as  a  secondary  activity  will  be  omitted,  although  they  do  account  for  an 
important volume of this type of transport. 

The  studies  raised  a  special  issue  regarding  reporting  on  domestic  transport  provided  by 
foreign companies. There is no obligation for foreign companies to notify national authorities 
when  they  carry  out  passenger  transport.  Reliable  and  structured  information  on  foreign 
companies and their services is lacking, and a European ship register could address problems 
of domestic transport by foreign companies.   

Generally,  requirements  for  detailed  data  need  to  be  reconciled  with  simplifying  the 
methodology  to  limit  the  burden  on  businesses.  The  countries  that  submitted  pilot  studies 
stressed the need to limit the burden of data collection, which is particularly high for smaller 
companies.  There  are  various  ways  to  limit  this  burden:  the  threshold  for  vessel  capacity 
could  be  set  at  more  than  12  passengers;  multi-annual  intervals  could  be  introduced  for 
reporting of transport activities; and small companies could be exempt from reporting. The 
burden  could  be  limited  further  by  restricting  the  scope  to  motorised  vessels.  Thus,  sailing 

12 

 
 
vessels, which  are usually  operated by small  companies and  which have large variations in 
the routes of the trips they undertake, would be exempt from reporting.  

Given  the  problems  with  definitions,  ferries  could  be  defined  more  specifically  or  ferry 
transport could be integrated with urban/regional transport. The introduction of an additional 
category  for  ‘Archipelago  traffic’  could  be  considered  in  view  of  the  unique  conditions  of 
waterborne travel in Sweden. 

Based  on  the  studies,  the  estimated  costs  of  collecting  data  vary  significantly  between 
countries.  No  country  explicitly  considers  the  costs  to  be  disproportionate  to  the  benefits; 
however,  there  are  significant  cost  differences  among  them.  Some  consider  it  easy  to 
integrate the collection of passenger transport data into their current work, while others take 
into  consideration  the  expenses  related  to  the  new  infrastructure  that  would  need  to  be 
developed.     

In summary, while some data  gaps exist, the seven pilot  studies consider the production of 
tables A1, A2, B1 and C1 to be basically feasible. 

3. 

RESULTS  OF  SURVEY  ON  PASSENGER  TRANSPORT  STATISTICS 
CARRIED OUT IN MARCH 2020 

In March 2020, Eurostat carried out a survey to get an overview from all EU countries that 
use  inland  waterways  for  transport  of  the  various  considerations  relating  to  passenger 
transport  statistics.  The  questions  addressed  the  costs  and  additional  burden  of  collecting 
data,  reasons  for  not  collecting  passenger  data  and  the  feasibility  of  collecting  data  in  the 
future. 

3.1. 

GENERAL INFORMATION 

Altogether,  15  countries  replied  to  the  survey.  Of  these  countries,  nine  replied  that  they 
already  collect  some  data  on  passenger  transport  by  inland  waterways,  while  six  indicated 
that they do not collect such data. 

3.2. 

COST OF COLLECTING DATA ON PASSENGER TRANSPORT BY INLAND WATERWAYS  
IN TERMS OF FINANCIAL AND HUMAN RESOURCES 

In the countries that currently collect  statistics  on passenger transport by inland waterways, 
the cost  and burden are  not  considered to  be disproportionate. Three countries assessed the 
costs of collecting data as minimal in terms of both financial and human resources. However, 
these countries commented that the current workforce is small and that work on completing 
the  questionnaire,  collecting  and  checking  data,  and  aggregating  and  preparing  data  for 
publication is carried out by several departments.  

Data  is  collected  on  a  very  limited  and  general  level,  with  only  a  few  small  companies 
operating  in  this  market  segment.  Statistical  reports  are  submitted  to  the  relevant  data 
preparation units and only data that are aggregated at country level are published.  

Countries  noted  that  information  on  costs  for  passenger  transport  statistics  could  not  be 
provided separately, because such costs are included in the overall cost of providing statistics 
on  transport  by  inland  waterways,  for  which  data  are  collected  on  a  yearly  basis  using  a 
specific survey. One country noted that the financial resources mainly include all expenditure 

13 

 
 
 
directly  or  indirectly  related  to  collecting  statistics,  such  as  staff  salaries,  IT  infrastructure, 
electricity, etc.  

3.3. 

ADDITIONAL  BURDEN  OF  COLLECTING  DATA  ON  PASSENGER  TRANSPORT  BY 
INLAND WATERWAYS  

Countries  reported  a  diverse  array  of  additional  burdens  encountered  in  their  collection  of 
passenger data.  

Three countries commented that they have not faced additional burdens. 

Other countries commented on the development  of a national  methodology and highlighted 
the  burden  of  identifying  additional  data  sources  and  compiling  information  from  different 
data  sources,  as  well  as  contacting  respondents  several  times  for  clarifications.  The  time 
frame  for  adopting  national  legislation  was  identified  as  another  additional  burden,  and  the 
time  frame  and  financial  resources  were  considered  the  main  burdens  when  upgrading  and 
implementing statistical information systems. 

Another  comment  regarded  the  sources  from  which  data  is  collected.  Sources  range  from 
administrative  registers,  ports  and  regional  tourism  committees  to  companies  that  carry  out 
transport by inland waterways and municipalities that manage and provide transport services. 

One country remarked that data on passenger transport by inland waterways is collected but 
cannot  be  processed.  Another  country  specified  that  only  information  on  transport  by 
passenger  vessels  and  ferries  was  collected,  but  not  on  transport  by  cruise  vessels,  day 
vessels, excursion vessels, waterbuses and water taxis.  

3.4. 

REASONS FOR COUNTRIES NOT TO COLLECT DATA ON PASSENGER TRANSPORT BY 
INLAND WATERWAYS  

Countries that do not collect data on passenger transport by inland waterways specified that 
there has been a lack of user demand for such data. The fact that there is no legal obligation 
was mentioned as another reason.   

One  country  highlighted  the  high  administrative  burden  for  the  small  and  very  numerous 
companies  operating  in  this  sector  as  the  main  argument  against  collecting  passenger 
transport  data.  Data  is  not  available  from  other  governmental  organisations  (or  commercial 
parties,  for  that  matter).  Moreover,  there  is  a  significant  number  of  foreign  companies  (EU 
and  non-EU)  operating  in  this  particular  country’s  inland  waterways,  implying  there  is  a 
problem to obtain data from foreign companies. 

One  country  explicitly  mentioned  that  it  does  not  have  any  passengers  who  are  transported 
via  inland  waterways,  as  there  is  only  a  small  number  of  inland  waterways  and  these  are 
exclusively  used  for  recreational  purposes,  while  two  other  countries  referred  to  the  small 
numbers of passengers transported by inland waterways. 

14 

 
 
3.5. 

FEASIBILITY  OF  COLLECTING  DATA  ON  PASSENGER  TRANSPORT  BY  INLAND 
WATERWAYS AND INTENTIONS TO COLLECT SUCH DATA IN THE FUTURE 

Among  the  countries  that  currently  do  not  collect  passenger  transport  data,  some  of  them 
mentioned  that  collecting  data  would  be  a  burden  on  them  given  the  limited  volume  of 
passenger transport by inland waterways compared with other types of transport. 

Three countries relied on the results of their own pilot studies to answer this question. One of 
these countries said that definitions and thresholds should be considered before moving on to 
data  collection.  Another  country  considered  that  data  collection  for  passenger  transport  by 
inland waterways is feasible in the near future. This country specified that there is an ongoing 
process to establish a new information system for inland waterways, which could be used as 
an administrative data source for both freight and passenger data in the future. 

One country confirmed their intention to start collecting data on passenger transport by inland 
waterways.  Two  countries  commented  that  they  do  not  plan  to  collect  such  data,  while 
another two countries would start to collect data only if there was a legal obligation to do so. 

4. 

CONCLUSIONS 

The  Commission  notes  that  the  seven  pilot  studies  have  thoroughly  investigated  the 
feasibility  of  collecting  data  on  passenger  transport  by  inland  waterways.  The  countries 
involved find the collection of passenger data achievable to a greater or a lesser extent. 

The studies have revealed differences in the parameters that affect the collection of passenger 
data  in  each  country,  such  as  data  sources,  types  of  vessels  used  for  transport  on  inland 
waterways and the physical geography of countries. While all the pilot studies identify a large 
range of data sources,  from administrative data to web scraping, they also acknowledge the 
need to limit the burden of reporting for small businesses. They emphasise that the effort to 
be invested needs to be proportionate to the share of inland waterways among all passenger 
transport modes. Concerns are also raised in relation to quality issues and data gaps. The cost 
of collecting data is  significantly different  from  one country to  another and is  linked to  the 
extent that inland waterways are used for passenger transport in each country. 

The pilot studies have shown that, in the seven participating countries, it would be feasible to 
collect  data  on  passenger  transport  by  inland  waterways  to  a  certain  extent,  but  this  would 
have  to  balance  the  need  for  data  with  the  availability  of  information  and  the  burden  on 
respondents.   

15