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Definitions, as published

The definition of each term exactly as its official source words it, with the article or page it comes from.

1,785 records · page 6 of 36

Term slugDefinition textCitation
load-capacity Maximum weight of goods declared permissible by the competent authority of the country of registration of the vehicle. Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.II-38, p. 59
load-volume Maximum volume available in the vehicle (e.g. measured in cubic metres) for the carriage of goods. Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.II-39, p. 59
floor-area-within-vehicle-body Maximum floor area within the vehicle body (e.g. measured in square metres) available for the carriage of goods. Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.II-40, p. 59
gross-vehicle-weight Maximum total weight of the vehicle (or combination of vehicles) including its load when stationary and ready for the road, declared permissible by the competent authority of the country of registration. Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.II-41, p. 59
combustion-engine-displacement As certified by the competent authority of the country of registration, it means: a) for reciprocating piston engines, the nominal engine swept volume; b) for rotary-piston (Wankel) engines, double the nominal engine swept volume. Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.II-42, p. 59
unladen-vehicle-weight Weight of vehicle (or combination of vehicles) excluding its load when stationary and ready for the road, as determined by the competent authority of the country of registration. Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.II-43, p. 60
vehicles-by-type-of-motor-energy Principal type of motor energy used by the vehicle as certified by the competent authority of the country of registration. Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.II-44, p. 60
conventional-fossil-fuel-powered-vehicle Road vehicle equipped with a primary motor fuelled by petrol (see (a)) or diesel (see (d)) and possibly with a secondary electric motor (see (b), (c), (e) and (f)), considered ‘hybrid’. a) Petrol vehicle. Road motor vehicle using petrol for propulsion, containing up to 10 % bioethanol (e5 to e10). b) Hybrid petrol-electric vehicle. Road motor vehicle using petrol for propulsion, with one or more additional electric motors for propulsion, where the electric motor(s) are powered by a traction battery charged by a generator driven by the petrol engine; plug-in hybrid petrol-electric vehicles are not included. c) Plug-in hybrid petrol-electric vehicle. Hybrid petrol-electric vehicle where the traction battery can also be charged from an external electricity source (such as an electric socket). Hybrid petrol-electric vehicles are not included. d) Diesel vehicle. Road motor vehicle using diesel for propulsion, containing up to 7 % biodiesel (such as b2, b5 or b7). e) Hybrid diesel-electric vehicle. Road motor vehicle using diesel for propulsion, with one or more additional electric motors for propulsion, where the electric motor(s) are powered by a traction battery charged by a generator driven by the diesel engine. Plug-in hybrid diesel-electric vehicles are not included. f) Plug-in hybrid diesel-electric vehicle. Hybrid diesel-electric vehicle where the traction battery can also be charged from an external electricity source (such as an electric socket). Hybrid diesel-electric vehicles are not included. Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.II-44.1, p. 60
alternative-fuel-powered-vehicle Road motor vehicles equipped to receive fuels or power sources that serve, at least partly, as a substitute for fossil oil sources in the energy used for transport and that have the potential to contribute to its decarbonisation and to enhance the environmental performance of the transport sector, including: a) zero-emission vehicles (ZEV): ʱ battery-only electric vehicles (BEV); ʱ hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCEV); b) other renewable-fuel-powered vehicles: ʱ biomass-fuel-powered vehicles, including biogas and biofuels; ʱ synthetic- and paraffinic-fuel-powered vehicles, with fuels produced from renewable energy; c) non-renewable alternative-fuel-powered and transitional fossil-fuel-powered vehicles: ʱ vehicles fuelled by natural gas in gaseous form (CNG) or liquefied form (liquefied natural gas (LNG)); ʱ vehicles fuelled by liquefied petroleum gas (LPG); ʱ vehicles fuelled by synthetic and paraffinic low-carbon fuels produced from non-renewable energy. Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.II-44.2, p. 60
age-of-road-vehicle Length of time since the first registration of the road vehicle, irrespective of the registering country. ## B.III. Road enterprises, investment and maintenance Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.II-45, p. 61
transport-for-hire-or-reward Carriage of persons or goods for remuneration on behalf of third parties. Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.III-01, p. 62
transport-on-own-account Transport that is not for hire or reward. Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.III-02, p. 62
road-transport-enterprise Enterprise that carries out activities in one or more locations to provide road transport services using road vehicles. Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.III-03, p. 62
road-passenger-transport-enterprise Road transport enterprise offering and performing services for the transport of one or more persons (passengers), not including the driver. Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.III-04, p. 62
on-demand-passenger-transport-service-activities-by-vehicle-with-driver Activities for road transport of nine or fewer persons, corresponding to NACE Rev. 2.1, class 49.33 (part of ISIC Rev. 5, class 49.22), include taxi services, private hire vehicles with driver (PHVs), bike taxi services and motorbike taxi services. Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.III-04.1, p. 62
road-goods-transport-enterprise Road transport enterprise offering and performing services in the transport of goods (freight, furniture removal, truck rental with driver, freight transport by human-powered or animal-drawn vehicles). Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.III-05, p. 62
public-road-transport-enterprise Road transport enterprise that is principally owned (more than 50 % of the capital) directly or indirectly by the general government (including local authorities). Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.III-06, p. 63
public-transport-authority See A.III-05. Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.III-07, p. 63
services-auxiliary-to-road-transportation Activities carried out by enterprises to support the road transport activities, such as warehousing and logistics activities, operating roads (including bridges and tunnels), operating car (or bicycle, lorry, etc.) parks or garages, freight forwarders, brokers of freight transportation or car (or bicycle, lorry, etc.) hire companies. Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.III-08, p. 63
fleet-sharing Rental of road vehicles without a driver, available for the use of unspecific users or groups of users over time. This generally includes free floating and docked/station-based shared vehicles that can be utilised on a pay-per- kilometre or pay-per-minute basis through a digital application. Fleet sharing refers primarily to shared passenger cars, electric scooters and bicycles that are owned by a platform . Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.III-09, p. 63
ride-sharing Service, typically facilitated through a digital application, that provides the traveller with access to rides where the traveller is the passenger and not the operator of the vehicle. The operator can be an employee of a platform, an independent contractor or simply another user of the platform. Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.III-10, p. 63
ride-sourcing Ride service that provides a single prearranged or on-demand ride in a vehicle operated by an employee or contractor of the ride-sourcing platform or in an autonomous vehicle owned or deployed by a platform. The vehicle operator acts as a chauffeur for passengers. The vehicle may be owned by the platform or the operator or leased from a third party. Vehicle operators (e.g. drivers) may themselves work for a contractor who contracts with the platform. Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.III-10.1, p. 63
ride-pooling Service that provides one or more open seats for a single trip in a privately owned vehicle operated by another traveller. The passenger and the driver share similar or complementary destinations and then share costs. This service does not constitute an economic activity for the driver, as it does not generate value added for them (only lower costs). When using a private ride-pooling platform, where both driver and passenger are users, the passenger pays a fee per ride, which is then split between the driver and the platform. In some cases, private ride-pooling platforms are subsidised by public agencies, corporations or institutions to reduce emissions and road congestion in their communities. Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.III-10.2, p. 64
investment-expenditure-on-road-infrastructure Capital expenditure on new road infrastructure or an extension of existing roads, including reconstruction, renewal (major substitution work on the existing infrastructure that does not change its overall performance) and upgrades (major modification work improving the original performance or capacity of the infrastructure). Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.III-11, p. 64
investment-expenditure-on-road-vehicles Capital expenditure to purchase road vehicles or to upgrade existing ones. Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.III-12, p. 64
maintenance-expenditure-on-road-infrastructure Non-capital expenditure to maintain the condition and capacity of the existing road infrastructure. Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.III-13, p. 64
maintenance-expenditure-on-road-vehicles Non-capital expenditure to maintain road vehicles in working order without improving either their performance or their capacity. Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.III-14, p. 64
roads-capital-stock Estimated monetary value reflecting the current stock of physical road transport infrastructure assets. Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.III-15, p. 64
road-traffic Movement of a road vehicle on a road network. Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.IV-01, p. 64
road-traffic-on-national-territory Movement of a road vehicle within a national territory irrespective of the country in which the vehicle is registered. Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.IV-02, p. 65
traffic-of-empty-road-vehicles Movement of a road vehicle for which the gross-gross weight of goods carried including that of equipment such as containers (see G.II-02), swap bodies (see G.II-08) and pallets (see G.II-11) is zero. Any movement of motor coaches, buses, trolleybuses and trams without any passengers. Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.IV-03, p. 65
road-traffic-inside-built-up-areas Movement of a road vehicle on a road inside a built-up area. Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.IV-04, p. 65
road-vehicle-trip Movement of a road vehicle from a specified point of origin to a specified point of destination, for a given purpose. Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.IV-05, p. 65
vehicle-kilometre Unit of measurement representing the movement of a road vehicle over one kilometre. Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.IV-06, p. 65
seat-kilometre-offered Unit of measurement representing the movement of one seat available in a hired passenger road vehicle (see B.III-01) when performing the services for which it is primarily intended over one kilometre. Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.IV-07, p. 65
entry-of-a-road-motor-vehicle-into-a-country Loaded or empty road motor vehicle that enters a country by road. Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.IV-08, p. 65
exit-of-a-road-motor-vehicle-from-a-country Loaded or empty road motor vehicle that leaves a country by road. Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.IV-09, p. 65
transit-of-a-road-motor-vehicle Loaded or empty road motor vehicle that enters and leaves the country at different points by any means of transport, provided that the total trip within the country is by road and that there is no loading or unloading within the country. Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.IV-10, p. 65
scheduled-bus-and-coach-transport Hired passenger road vehicle activities scheduled and performed by bus, motor coach, trolleybus, minibus or mini-coach according to a published timetable, or operating so regularly and frequently that it forms a recognisably, systematic series. Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.IV-11, p. 66
occasional-bus-and-coach-transport Hired passenger road vehicle activities performed by bus, motor coach, trolleybus, minibus or mini-coach not covered by scheduled transport. Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.IV-12, p. 66
urban-transport-by-bus-and-coach Transport performed by a bus, motor coach, trolleybus or minibus registered in the reporting country, where both the origin and the destination are within the same urban area (see J.III-01 for the definition of a functional urban area). Such transport can be scheduled or occasional. Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.IV-13, p. 66
international-transport-by-bus-and-coach Transport performed by a bus, motor coach, trolleybus or minibus registered in the reporting country, where either the origin or the destination is abroad. Such transport can be scheduled or occasional. Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.IV-14, p. 66
odometer-readings An odometer indicates the number of kilometres (or miles) a road motor vehicle has travelled. Regular roadworthiness inspections record these successive odometer readings with corresponding dates. The total volume of traffic (expressed in vehicle-kilometres) can then be deduced. Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.IV-15, p. 66
automatic-traffic-counts Traffic counts performed automatically, at the selected point or section of a road, by dedicated electronic devices that process signals from detectors. Various types of detectors / detection technologies may be used, such as inductive loops, rubber tubes, video cameras, radar and laser sensors. Depending on the functionality, in addition to the overall volume of traffic in either or both directions or separate lanes, it may automatically classify vehicles in distinct categories (e.g. light vehicles, heavy vehicles or more specific divisions), measuring vehicle speed and length, number of axles, or gaps between vehicles, etc. Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.IV-16, p. 66
annual-average-daily-traffic-aadt Total number of road motor vehicles passing a point of a road, in both directions, over a year, divided by 365. Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.IV-16.1, p. 67
datex-ii Data exchange standard for sharing traffic information among traffic management centres, traffic service providers, traffic operators and media partners. It contains, for example, traffic incidents, current roadworks and other special traffic-related events. Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.IV-17, p. 67
general-transit-feed-specification-gtfs Open standard used to distribute relevant information about transit systems to riders. It allows public transit agencies to publish their transit data in a format that can be consumed by a wide variety of software applications. GTFS consists of two main parts: GTFS Schedule and GTFS Realtime. Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.IV-18, p. 67
gtfs-schedule Feed specification that defines a common format for static public transport information. It is composed of a collection of simple files, mostly text files (.txt), that are contained in a single ZIP file. Each file describes a particular aspect of transit information such as stops, routes, trips, calendar, etc. Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.IV-18.1, p. 67
gtfs-realtime Feed specification that allows public transport agencies to provide up-to-date information about current arrival and departure times, service alerts and vehicle position, allowing users to smoothly plan their trips. The specification currently supports the following types of information: ʱ trip updates: delays, cancellations, changed routes; ʱ service alerts: stop moved, unforeseen events affecting a station, route or the entire network; ʱ vehicle positions: information about vehicles, including location and congestion level. Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.IV-18.2, p. 67
tachograph Device that records the speed and distance travelled of a vehicle and the activities (driver identity, driving time, breaks from work and daily rest periods, other periods of work or of availability) of drivers engaged in the carriage of goods or passengers by road. The purpose of a tachograph is to provide trustworthy information to enforcers monitoring compliance. Glossary for transport statistics, 6th edition (2026), B.IV-19, p. 67

Sources

1,049 further records are on file but not shown, because the publisher's terms do not clearly allow them to be republished.