Use of Space

Public transport is a master of efficiency

While the transport network needs to keep pace with a growing city, one thing remains constant: the space available. Vienna’s urban area makes up around 41,500 hectares or 7,000 football fields, six percent of which is used by individual transport, while public transport takes up just one percent. And this is despite the fact that 39 percent of all journeys in Vienna are already made by public transport (car: 27 percent).

The ratio of people taken from A to B compared to the space used shows how efficiently the available space is being used. Vienna’s public transport system has a clear lead here and is four times as efficient as individual transport. The underground is the key to success: it is extremely efficient in terms of the space used, and is even 20 times more efficient than a car.

Therefore, more public transport also means more space for living. If you pause to consider a situation in which all journeys in Vienna are made by public transport alone, the amount of space that could be saved becomes clear: around 500 hectares could then be used for other activities. This corresponds to around 77 times the area of the Stadtpark. By way of comparison: The Sports Department of the City of Vienna (MA51) manages 363 hectares of sporting facilities. Conversely, if all of Vienna travelled solely by car, the amount of space required for traffic would need to increase three-fold.