An Innovative Integration Methodology of Independent Data Sources to Improve the Quality of Freight Transport Surveys

Past experiences show that data of the official Austrian freight transport statistics are often underestimated. Therefore, a methodology was developed, merging existing independent road freight transport data to a consistent and valid road freight matrix. The methodology comprises four steps, using data of the Austrian and European freight transport statistics, data of roadside interviews of truck drivers, and data of counting stations and toll gantries. The methodology was applied to data from the year 2009. Results show the reliability and plausibility of the methodology, indicated by a high correlation with high quality roadside traffic counts.