Active Travel Germany

Economic data, Active travel, Germany

This document contains preliminary numbers for economic data for active travel in Germany.

Bold font rows are the final datapoints.

The values are good approximations, but they may still be subject to change.

Transport statistics

According to national tax depreciation tables, bicycles are depreciated after 7 years [4]. However, people may be using their bicycles for much longer. There does not exist any good data on how long bicycles actually are in use, we are therefore left to estimate that number. In ClimateOS we make the assumption that bicycles on average last 20 years. We recommend adapting this number to your local circumstances.

Since active travel which consists of both walking and cycling is modelled as one carbon causal chain, the distances per bike and the costs per distance have to be calculated in proportion to all the active travel, e.g. if active travel is made up of 50% of the distance walked and 50% of the distance biked, the distance per bike and year has to be calculated to cover both the distance travelled on that bike plus for every biked km the amount of walked kilometers (which in our case is equal to the distance biked) resulting in 2 times the distance per bike.

According to the Bundesfinanzministerium, a bicycle is fully depreciated after 7 years. However, we believe that bicycles are used for much longer. For that purpose, we have made the assumption that a bicycle is used for 20 years on average. See Bundesfinanzministerium, https://www.bundesfinanzministerium.de/Content/DE/Standardartikel/Themen/Steuern/Weitere_Steuerthemen/Betriebspruefung/AfA-Tabellen/Ergaenzende-AfA-Tabellen/AfA-Tabelle_AV.html

Yearly distances and longevity

Table 1

	name	value	unit
0	Total yearly distance travelled by foot [1]	36,200,000,000	pkm
1	Total yearly distance travelled by bicycle [1]	37,900,000,000	pkm
2	Total yearly distance travelled by active travel*	74,100,000,000	pkm
3	Share of biking within active travel† §	0.5
4	Number of bicycles in Germany [2]	75,000,000
5	Total yearly distance active travel per bicycle.‡ ¶	1,000	pkm
6	Assumed average lifetime of bicycle	20	yr

A number in parentheses represents the row in question

$\displaystyle *\text{Sum of } (0), (1)$

$\displaystyle †(1) / (2)$

$\displaystyle ‡(2) / (4)$

§Rounded to the nearest tenth
¶Rounded to the nearest thousand

References

[1]: Umweltbundesamt - Fahrleistungen, Verkehrsleistung und Modal Split in Deutschland 
 https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/daten/verkehr/fahrleistungen-verkehrsaufwand-modal-split
[2]: Mobilität in Deutschland – MiD Kurzreport Verkehrsaufkommen 
 https://www.bmvi.de/SharedDocs/DE/Anlage/G/mid-2017-kurzreport.pdf

Capital Expenditures (CAPEX)

The average price for a new bike in 2021 in Germany was €1,395 according to the Allgemeiner Deutscher Fahrrad-Club. [3]. Please note that this is figure includes e-bikes. However, far from all people who are shifting to cycle more or to commuting by bicycle need to purchase a new bike. We make the assumption, that only around 20% need to do so. Please note that this is only an assumption and we recommend to adapt the number to your local circumstances.

Table 2

	name	value	unit
0	Average purchase price bicycle [1]*	1,395	EUR
1	Share of bikers needing a new bicycle [2]	0.2
2	Average purchase cost across all "new" bikers.† ‡	280	EUR

* Average including e-bikes.

A number in parentheses represents the row in question

$\displaystyle †\text{Product of } (0), (1)$

‡Rounded to the nearest ten

References

[1]: Allgemeiner Deutscher Fahrrad-Club (ADAC), Zahlen zum Fahrradmarkt 2021, 
 https://www.adfc.de/neuigkeit/zahlen-zum-fahrradmarkt-2021
[2]: Assumed value

Operational Expenditures (OPEX)

As for any other vehicles, the operational costs can be divided into fixed and distance related operating costs.

Fixed operating costs

Fixed costs for bicycles would mainly include insurance. Except for the more expensive bicycles, insurance is included in the home insurances, therefore no additional cost.

Distance related operating costs are mainly service costs, repair or replacement costs due to ware and tear. As mentioned in the introduction, the distance related cost has to be scaled from cost per person-km by bicycle to cost per person-km all active travel.

Table 3

	name	value	unit
0	Maintenance cost per bicycle-km [1]	0.15	EUR / pkm
1	Share of biking within active travel [2]†	0.5
2	Operational costs per person-km, all active travel*	0.075	EUR / pkm

A number in parentheses represents the row in question

$\displaystyle *\text{Product of } (0), (1)$

†Rounded to the nearest tenth

References

[1]: Radfahren.de 
  https://www.radfahren.de/service/kosten-fahrrad-service-werkstatt-wartung-pflege/
[2]: See Table 1

Externalities

Active travel has both negative externalities (accident costs) and positive externalities (health benefits). The cost figures for those categories are taken from the following article: Gössling, S., Choi, A., Dekker, K. and Metzler, D. 2018. The social cost of automobility, cycling and walking in the European Union. Ecological Economics 158: 65-74, ISSN 0921-8009, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2018.12.016

Accident costs

The costs of accidents between motorised vehicles and bicycles or pedestrians are ascribed as external costs (externalities) to the motorised transport. In order not to count accidents between motorised vehicles and bicycles in both places by adding them as internal costs to the cyclists / pedestrians, we are only considering the external accident costs for bicycling, i.e. the costs inflicted upon others.

Table 4

	name	value	unit
0	Accident costs active travel [1]*	0.001	EUR / pkm

* The value in the source document was from 2017 but since it was less than 0.001 EUR/person-km, we have not made any inflation adjustment for 2021.

References

[1]: Gössling, S., Choi, A., Dekker, K. and Metzler, D. 2018. The social cost of automobility, cycling and walking in the European Union. Ecological Economics 158: 65-74, ISSN 0921-8009 
 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2018.12.016

Health benefits

The following numbers have been considered when calculating the total health benefits for active travel:

Health benefits internal and external costs
Prolonged life, internal and external costs

As there is no risk for double counting, both internal and external costs / benefits have been included here. A weighted average of the benefits of walking and cycling has been calculated based on the volume of each mode of transport. Since walking and cycling make up approximately equal parts of the total active travel, the weighted average corresponds to the arithmetic average in this case.

Table 5

	name	value	unit
0	Health benefits external, walking [1]	-0.386	EUR / pkm
1	Health benefits internal, walking [1]	-0.268	EUR / pkm
2	Prolonged life external, walking [1]	0.014	EUR / pkm
3	Prolonged life internal, walking [1]	-0.64	EUR / pkm
4	Health benefits external, cycling [1]	-0.193	EUR / pkm
5	Health benefits internal, cycling [1]	-0.134	EUR / pkm
6	Prolonged life external, cycling [1]	0.007	EUR / pkm
7	Prolonged life internal, cycling [1]	-0.32	EUR / pkm
8	Total health benefits walking*	-1.28	EUR / pkm
9	Total health benefits cycling†	-0.64	EUR / pkm
10	Total health benefits active travel‡	-0.96	EUR / pkm

A number in parentheses represents the row in question

$\displaystyle *\text{Sum of } (0), (1), (2), (3)$

$\displaystyle †\text{Sum of } (4), (5), (6), (7)$

$\displaystyle ‡\text{Average of } (8), (9)$

References

[1]: Gössling, S., Choi, A., Dekker, K. and Metzler, D. 2018. The social cost of automobility, cycling and walking in the European Union. Ecological Economics 158: 65-74, ISSN 0921-8009 
 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2018.12.016