TEMS - The EPOMM Modal Split Tool

This tool was initiated in 2011 with support from the project EPOMM-PLUS.

Concept by Karl-Heinz Posch/FGM-AMOR.

Why is modal split so important?

Surprising, but true:  mobility behaviour is universally the same: On average all persons use about 1-1,5 hour per day for their mobility and make about 3-4 trips per day – no matter where they live or what their cultural background is. The only big difference is the transport mode they use for their mobility.  And this is what mobility management is all about: how to manage transport mode choice in an effective way with a positive outcome for the individual, for the city, for the economy and for the planet. And modal split is THE indicator for the outcome of this management.

TEMS measures trips (and not km)

Travel behaviour can best be measured by trips.
Why? The average length of trip for all modes except the car remains almost stable. Only the average length of urban car trips has grown for the last decades, see for example here. So the aim is to change the mode, the car kilometres (relevant for emissions) will follow automatically.

Hard to find

Despite Google and Wikipedia, it is still very hard to find reliable modal split data of cities, and even harder to compare these data. That’s why TEMS has been implemented by EPOMM – and why many cities and countries are contributing their data.

European cities above 100.000 inhabitants

TEMS aims to show the modal split of all cities in Europe with more than 100.000 inhabitants (there are about 450 such cities). Data of smaller cities and of non-European cities are accepted but are not the focus.

Data comparability

Research among the 11 EPOMM member states on their city data showed that, in spite of differences in survey methods, the data are relatively well comparable. Of course there is no 100% exactness. To make data even more comparable, survey background can be provided – with more details on methodology, age range and source of the data. Also, a distinction can be made whether the data are from a city, agglomeration, region or a whole country.

Cities can upload and control data themselves

TEMS is a collaborative effort, led by EPOMM and the EPOMM NFPs and supported to some extent by the EU-projects EPOMM-PLUS and ENDURANCE Ultimately, EPOMM would prefer that each city takes responsibility for their modal split data and uploads and controls the data themselves.

Check by the administrator

All uploaded cities are checked and located on the map by the administrator after the upload process. If the data seem OK, the city data are put online within a few working days. Else, the authors are contacted for clarification.

Deeper Analysis

Under “Compare cities” it is possible to generate a list of all cities and all compare results can be exported to an XLS-format. Deeper analysis (of more detailed data) can be requested by sending a mail with the form below. A special agreement and an administrative fee might be necessary, depending on the type of request and purpose of the analysis.

No decimal values

It is quite common to provide numbers that seem very exact - like "we have 3.44 percent bicycle share - which is an increase of 37.52% from last year". TEMS intentionally does not provide exactness that has no base in reality (survey methods can lead to mistakes of several percentage points). Moreover, such multiple digit numbers make reading, comparability and memorisation more difficult. As example: 3.32 looks quite different from 2.98 – but without the digits they are the same - around 3%. 3% and 12% are easy to compare – while 3.32% and 11.86% are difficult – just try to add or subtract them from each other.