Railroad recovered

Corona aftermath: More bike, less car

(Bild: Halfpoint )

Corona has massively restricted mobility behavior in the short term and also changed it in the long term. What has remained is a higher proportion of cycling and a lower proportion of driving, as well as more people working from home, with an impact on commuting.

In 2020, cars covered 22.2 percent fewer kilometers on Austria's freeways and expressways than in 2019 (from 29.024 billion kilometers to 22.586 billion kilometers), according to VCÖ data from Asfinag. In 2023, cars drove 250 million kilometers less on the high-level road network than in 2019, despite the slightly longer road network (by 16 kilometers). The level of five years ago was only reached in the previous year. In the years before that, car traffic on Austria's freeways and expressways increased every year.

The overall decline in mobility on all roads also had a positive impact on the number of road fatalities. At around 340 victims, 2020 saw the lowest figure since the Ministry of the Interior began keeping records in 1950. 2024 saw the second-lowest number of fatalities (349) after temporary increases.

Rail also recovers and sets a record thanks to climate ticket
Public transport was also severely affected by the pandemic. In 2020, the number of passengers on Austria's railroads fell by 39% to 192.2 million, while the number of kilometers traveled by rail fell by around 45% to 7.4 billion. However, a new record was set in 2023, according to the VCÖ: at 328.4 million, the number of passengers was almost four percent higher than in 2019, and at 14.5 billion, eight percent more kilometers were traveled by train than in the previous record year of 2019.

Public transport in Vienna has not yet reached pre-pandemic levels.

(Bild: Agata Kadar - stock.adobe.com)

"The fact that more people traveled by train in 2023 than in 2019 is also due to the climate ticket, which has made rail travel more attractive and cheaper for many, especially for commuters," explained VCÖ expert Michael Schwendinger. In Vienna, where an affordable annual public transport pass has been available since 2012, public transport has not yet reached pre-pandemic levels. In 2020, passenger numbers fell by 39 percent to 574 million. By 2023, they had risen by 218 million to 792 million, but were still 147 million below the record level of 2019. In Linz, the number of passengers in 2023 was 98.5 million, 13.5 million lower than in 2019.

Commuter traffic dampened, travel increased sharply again
The proportion of people working from home is still higher than before the pandemic, which is slowing down the increase in commuter traffic. In addition, the number of companies implementing mobility management has increased in recent years, thereby increasing the proportion of employees who travel to work by public transport, bicycle and carpooling.

The situation is different for travel and excursions. There is no longer a dampening factor here. On the contrary, the number of trips has risen massively. According to Statistics Austria, Austrians made a total of 27 million vacation trips in 2023, 5.8 million or 27 percent more than in 2019. Holiday trips by car increased by 23 percent to 16.4 million, while rail travel rose even more sharply by 63 percent to 4.1 million. "It is not yet possible to say whether this is a catch-up of missed trips or a long-term trend," emphasized Schwendinger.

Vienna Airport set a passenger record in 2024 with 31.7 million passengers. This figure was around 50,000 passengers higher than in the pre-coronavirus year 2019. In March 2020, Austrian Airlines completely suspended its flight operations for several weeks, with only return flights for Austrians stranded abroad.

Vienna Airport is busy again - with more passengers than ever before in the previous year.

(Bild: Andreas Hofer)

More bikes, fewer cars across Austria
Mobility surveys for the period after and before the pandemic are available for five federal states - Upper Austria, Salzburg, Styria, Tyrol, Vorarlberg - as well as Graz, St. Pölten and the federal capital Vienna. "The mobility surveys of the federal provinces show a consistent trend in two areas: cycling has increased and the proportion of cars has decreased," summarized Schwendinger. In Salzburg, the share of cycling in mobility increased from eleven percent in 2012 to 13 percent in 2022, in Upper Austria from 5.2 percent in 2012 to 6.7 percent in 2022, in Tyrol from eleven percent in 2011 to 14 percent in 2022, in Styria from six percent in 2014 to nine percent in 2024 and in Vorarlberg from 16 percent in 2017 to 22 percent in 2022.

The increase in cycling is also evident in Vienna, with an increase from seven percent in 2019 to ten percent in 2023. According to automatic bicycle traffic counts by the City of Vienna, the number of bicycle trips in 2024 increased by five percent compared to 2023. In Graz, the share of cycling in 2021 was 20 percent, higher than in 2018 (19 percent). In Graz, too, the cycle counting stations that already existed in 2021 show a further increase, with the number of cycle journeys in 2024 almost five percent higher than in 2021. In St. Pölten, the share of cycling increased from 14 percent in 2018 to 18 percent in 2024.

VCÖ for cycling infrastructure offensive
"During the pandemic, many people discovered the bicycle as a means of transportation to get healthy exercise in everyday life," recalled Schwendinger. With less car traffic, cycling was perceived as more pleasant and safer. "Some people have also changed their behavior in the long term and now cycle more often," explained the VCÖ expert. "Many European cities have shown during the pandemic that cycling infrastructure can also be improved quickly through transport policy measures. A cycling infrastructure offensive is needed in Austria to support the trend towards cycling and, above all, to make the best possible use of the potential of electric bicycles in everyday life," Schwendinger recommended further improvements.