International Transportation (71) 1 | 2019 6 Social costs of transport in-Switzerland Measuring the impact of transport on the society and quantifying compliance with the polluter pays principle Transport economics, External costs of transport, Polluter pays principle, True cost of transport, Unit-costs What is the cost of transport in Switzerland? What are the drivers of transport cost and who pays for it? The “Statistics on the costs and funding of transport” compiled by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office answers these questions for the transport modes road, rail, air and inland waterways. The statistics take into account not only financial expenditures but also the intangible costs of transport-related accidents or damages to health and the environment. Christian Gigon, Alexandra Quandt T he Swiss statistics on the costs and funding of transport (CFT statistics) use a holistic approach to cover all the economic costs caused by transport in the categories infrastructure, means of transport, accidents, and damages to human health and the environment. Adopting the polluter-pays principle, the external costs of transport are also included in the calculations. The chosen full cost approach enables a comparison to be made between the different forms of trans- Zurich tramway . Photo: Bing Hao on Unsplash Total: CHF 89.7 billion Costs of transport by cost category, 2015 © FSO 2019 Source: FSO - Statistics on the costs and funding of transport (CFT) infrastructure means of transport accidents health and environment 59% 12% 17% 13% CHF billion Costs of passenger and goods transport by transport mode, 2015 1 excl. human-powered mobility 2 excl. general aviation © FSO 2019 Source: FSO - Statistics on the costs and funding of transport (CFT) 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 inland waterways transport air transport 2 rail transport road transport 1 53.4 18.6 8.8 2.2 6.4 passenger transport goods transport 72.0 11.0 6.4 0.3 Total costs including accident, environmental and health costs Figure 1: Costs of transport by cost category, 2015 Figure 2: Total costs of passenger and goods by transport mode, including accident, environmental and health costs, 2015 STRATEGIES External costs External costs STRATEGIES International Transportation (71) 1 | 2019 7 port and the individual cost categories in the interests of costs transparency and thus economic efficiency. The CFT statistics cover the costs of the relevant modes of transport in Switzerland: road, rail, air, and inland waterways. In addition to establishing the total costs of transport and its underlying cost drivers, the statistics also address the matter of its funding. To do this, a distinction is made between direct and final costs bearers (after transfers). Cost bearers are transport users, transport companies, the public sector and the general public. The “general public” is understood as all people who involuntarily bear the burden of negative effects of transport. In contrast to cost-benefit analyses, the CFT statistics look at transport costs in their entirety, comparing the individual cost categories between the different forms of transport. CHF 90 billion for transport in-Switzerland Transport by road, rail, air and inland waterways generated economic costs of a total of CHF 89.7 billion in Switzerland in 2015 (see figure 1). That is just under CHF-11,000 (about EUR 10,000) per capita (EUR 1.00 2015 = CHF 1.07) which was greater, for example, than expenditure on the Swiss health care system. Three quarters of the costs were incurred by passenger transport and a quarter by goods transport. In all areas, motorised road transport costs dominate, accounting alone for four-fifths of total costs. At 12 % and 7 %, rail transport and aviation share a much lower percentage of the costs. The percentage attributable to inland waterways transport in the total transport costs is almost negligible. But in terms of importing goods it occupies an important place, accounting for 11 % of the trading volume. If the individual categories are compared, the majority of costs is due to the acquisition, operation and maintenance of the means of transport (59 %). Transport infrastructure causes 17 % of all transport costs. A Swiss particularity are the high costs for railway infrastructure. They amount to CHF 5.0 billion compared to CHF 8.6 billion for road infrastructure. Costs for transport accidents (12 %) as well as environment and health costs caused by transport (13 %) were much lower (see figure-2). Strong increase in rail and aviation-costs In comparison with 2010, transport costs rose by 4 %. The greatest increases were for rail (+12 %) and aviation (+14 %), while road transport costs stagnated (see figure 3). Factors driving rail transport costs were the substantial investments in infrastructure projects, such as the Gotthard base tunnel in particular but also investments in more frequent trains and new rolling stock. Despite improved efficiency, aviation costs overall continue to rise due to the greatly increased number of flight passengers in Switzerland (+27 %). Highest unit costs in road transport Particularly interesting comparisons can be made by taking transport performance into account. When calculating unit costs (per personor tonne-kilometre), also known as kilometre costs, a distinction should be made by distance group as the level of average costs depends to a large extent on the occupancy rate of the means of transport chosen and the distance travelled (see Index 2010 =100 1 data collected only for 2010 and 2015; excl. general aviation 2 excl. human-powered mobility © FSO 2019 Source: FSO - Statistics on the costs and funding of transport (CFT) road transport 2 rail transport air transport 1 Growth of transport costs by transport mode Total costs including accident, environmental and health costs 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 95 100 105 110 115 113.6 112.0 102.1 Unit costs of passenger transport, 2015 infrastructure means of transport accidents health and environment Forms of passenger transport with short average distances CHF centimes per person-km public road transport private motorised road transport rail transport air transport 1 Forms of passenger transport with medium average distances CHF centimes per person-km Forms of passenger transport with long average distances CHF centimes per person-km Source: FSO - Statistics on the costs and funding of transport (CFT) © FSO 2019 1 scheduled and charter flights (incl. belly freight), excl. general aviation 100 80 60 40 20 0 100 80 60 40 20 0 100 80 60 40 20 0 12 66 6 4 87 6 29 9 7 51 21 19 3 43 3 3 9 15 Figure 4: Unit costs of passenger transport, 2015 Figure 3: Growth of transport costs by transport mode; total costs including accident, environmental and health costs STRATEGIES External costs International Transportation (71) 1 | 2019 8 figure-4). Forms of transport with long average distances have inherently lower kilometre costs than those covering shorter distances. Each person-kilometre travelled in scheduled and charter flights, for example, costs only 15 centimes. Private motorised road transport cost on average 51 centimes and each person-kilometre travelled by rail cost 43 centimes. In addition to high transport performance in rail transport, the latter is also due to relatively high occupancy rates in trains. 21% of passenger transport in Switzerland is undertaken in public transport by rail and road. Goods transport carried out by heavy road goods vehicles (more than 3.5 t) costs on average 55 centimes, whereas the transport of a tonne of goods by rail costs only 17- centimes. International goods transport on the Rhine is much cheaper at only 7 centimes per tonne transported. In addition to the long distances and the larger tonnage, this is also due to the inherently lower infrastructure costs. CHF 26 billion for passenger cars The largest cost component by far is incurred by the means of transport. For all means of transport together this amounted to CHF 52.6 billion in 2015. Swiss residents spent CHF 26.1 billion alone on the purchase, operation and maintenance of 4.6 million passenger cars. On average, this cor- BACKGROUND Methodological aspects of the Swiss Statistics on the costs and funding of transport (CFT statistics) Coverage The CFT statistics cover the modes of transport road, rail, air, and inland waterways. In principle, the costs caused by transport within Switzerland are measured. However, for aviation and goods shipping on the Rhine, the halfway principle is applied. In international transport half of the costs are charged to the country of origin, the other half to the country of destination. Data sources The CFT statistics are composite statistics that have gradually been developed by federal statisticians since the turn of the millennium. They constitute an extension to an existing survey created in the 1960s to monitor road infrastructure expenditure and the business statistics of the Swiss railways. Findings are based on several complete and partial surveys as well as on a number of model calculations (see figure). Methodology The main guiding principles for the methodology can be summarised as follows: - Utmost priority is given to the comparability of the modes of transport. As far as possible, the same calculation mechanisms are applied to all modes of transport. - Costs are compiled according to the gross cost principle. - For investments (in particular in infrastructure) the perpetual inventory method is used (depreciation and interest costs). - Modelling for the environmental and health costs is done based on a cautious estimate: Costs are only counted if they can be reliably proven using the latest scientific methods. The calculation of the CFT statistics follows a three-stage procedure. 1. Cost levels are calculated for the four cost categories (infrastructure, means of transport, accident, environmental and health costs). The result of this calculation step show how the costs arose. 2. Costs are assigned to the cost bearer that incurred them when they originated (= “direct cost bearer”). The result of this calculation step show who assumed the costs at the time they arose. 3. Due to transfer payments between cost bearers, the absorption of costs may be reassigned. Calculations taking these transfers into account result in the “final cost bearer”. Examples of transfers are: transport-related taxes, transport charges to transport companies and internalisation contributions. The results show who ultimately bore the costs. The three calculation steps show the same costs broken down in three different ways: “cost category”, “direct cost bearer” and “final cost bearer”. The results of the CFT statistics can be expressed either as absolute figures (Swiss francs), as percentages for each breakdown, or as unit costs (per personkilometre or tonne-kilometre). Further information FSO 2019: Statistics on costs and funding of transport, 2015, Federal Statistical Office, Neuchâtel (CH) FSO 2019: Statistics on costs and funding of transport, Methodology report, Version 2.0, Federal Statistical Office, Neuchâtel (CH) www.statistik.ch Main data sources of the CFT statistics Source: FSO 2019 - Statistics on costs and funding of transport (CFT) Private motorised transport (passengers and goods) Public transport Infrastructure Infrastructure Infrastructure costs costs costs Means Means Means of of of transport transport transport costs costs costs Calculation based on import values according to foreign trade statistics Exhaustive survey of transport companies Accident Accident Accident costs costs costs Environmental Environmental Environmental and and and health health health costs costs costs Road transport Rail transport Air transport Inland waterways transport Exhaustive survey of federal, cantonal and communal road infrastructure costs; costs are assigned to vehicle categories on the basis of empirical studies Exhaustive survey of railway companies Partial survey of airlines and airport operators Exhaustive survey of public transport companies, model accounting for freight transport on the River Rhine Model calculation from the Federal Office for Spatial Development External costs STRATEGIES International Transportation (71) 1 | 2019 9 responded to 46 centimes for every vehicle kilometre covered in Switzerland. If the infrastructure costs and accident costs from passenger cars and the transport-related damage to the environment and health are included, the total costs amount to 79 centimes per car kilometre. Environmental damages and health costs up to CHF 12 billion Damage to the environment accounted for 13 % of all transport costs. This is equal to just under CHF 12 billion. The majority of these costs, i.e. 81 %, were caused by motorised road transport. At CHF 3.3 billion, the greatest environmental costs are due to local air pollution in road transport, that is to say from fine particles and carbon monoxide, followed by traffic noise on roads with an estimated CHF 2.1 billion. In absolute terms, road transport is also the greatest polluter. At CHF 1.6 billion the climate costs it causes are twice as high as those caused by Swiss aviation. In relative terms, however, climate costs for aviation are the highest, accounting for 13 % of the total costs of flying. Those costs are not covered by the price of air tickets. With the exception of the Swiss heavy goods vehicle charge (HGVC), no notable internalisation payments are made by transport users in Switzerland. This road charge is the main steering instrument to influence the constitutionally enshrined transfer of goods transport from road to rail. Switzerland is one of the European countries with the highest modal split of rail transport. Nevertheless, road transport rests with a modal split of 63 % the dominant mode of transport. The costs of environmental damage caused by transport are borne almost entirely by the general public. We can thus state that no transport user bears all their own costs. The general public pays too The final cost bearers show how the burden is ultimately shared (see figure 5). In 2015, transport users bore the highest percentage of final costs, bearing 86% of motorised road transport costs. The State bore 2 % in the form of subsidies for public road transport. The remaining 12 % is transferred to the general public in the form of accident, environment and health costs. This 12 % did, however, represent CHF 8.7 billion. That is almost four times the total burden of the other modes of transport together. In aviation, because of the high degree of pollution, the share of user funding was 81 %; for inland waterways transport it was 64 % and for rail transport 46 %. The public sector plays an important part in the funding of rail transport: in 2015 the State assumed around 43 % of the total costs. These costs are generally assumed deliberately by the State, partly due to Switzerland’s legal obligation to provide basic public transport services. Furthermore, in accordance with the road to rail policy, major railway projects such as the Gotthard base tunnel are co-financed by the State. ■ Christian Gigon Scientific Officer, Mobility Section, Federal Statistical Office FSO, Neuchâtel (CH) christian.gigon@bfs.admin.ch Alexandra Quandt, Dr. Scientific Officer, Mobility Section, Federal Statistical Office FSO, Neuchâtel (CH) alexandra.quandt@bfs.admin.ch gi-e-11.02.01-2019 Financing of road infrastructure Costs of human-powered transport How costs are incurred... ... and who foots the bill. Confederation 2 CHF bn 4 6 8 Cantons Communes Source: FSO - Statistics on the costs and funding of transport (CFT) Costs and funding of transport 11 Mobility and transport © FSO 2019 2015 www.statistics.admin.ch CHF 89.7 billion Total costs of motorised transport (+4% since 2010) Infrastructure�10% (CHF 1.1 billion) Means of transport�6% (CHF 0.6 billion) Accidents 83% (CHF 8.7 billion) Environment and health 1% (CHF 0.1 billion) CHF 11.0 bn Passenger transport Goods transport 1 2 3 4 80% 12% 7% 77% 23% 0.4% Motorised road transport Rail transport Rail transport Air transport Inland waterways transport Infrastructure Means of transport Environment and health Accidents Transport users State General public Railway enterprises State revenue from road transport (e.g. petroleum tax) State expenditure on road infrastructure CHF 72.0 bn Motorised road transport 0% 100% 0% 100% 1 2 3 4 72.0 11.0 Figure 5: Costs and funding of Swiss road and rail transport, 2015 @EuTransportConf #etcdublin2019 www.aetransport.org AET European Transport Conference (ETC) 3-Day Booking Discounts: Deadline 28 th June The 47 th European Transport Conference Annual Conference of the Association for European Transport 09-11 October 2019 Dublin Castle, Ireland Delegates are now invited to book their place at the European Transport Conference to benefit from an Early Booking Discount. 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Standard Fees may be subject to alteration due to fluctuating exchange rates. J000237 Early bookings Internationales Verkehrswesen advert 88x126 v2.indd 1 18/ 03/ 2019 13: 13