Regional fact sheets – Area of

Deliverable D4.2

Institute for Transport Studies, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna

Neuhauser Bernhard • Klementschitz Roman • Roider Oliver

November 2014

Contract N°: IEE/12/970/S12.670555

Table of contents

1 Spatial Analysis 3 1.1 Short overview of the Waldviertel area characteristics 3 1.2 The area geography and constraints 6 1.3 Transport and mobility infrastructure offered 7 2 Socioeconomic and demographic structure 8 3 Regional public transport systems 12 4 References 16

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1 Spatial Analysis 1.1 Short overview of the Waldviertel area characteristics

The implementation area of Waldviertel is located in the North-west of the Austrian province of Lower . The implementation area of Waldviertel for the SmartMove project is just a part of the geographical area of Waldviertel in Austria. The implementation area consists of two administrative districts, called as “” and “ Land" however the implementation area doesn’t cover all of these ’s regions and municipalities. The district of Melk covers 1014 km² and Krems-Land 924km², thus the entire area is 1938 km². The implementation area for SmartMove however just covers a total area of 569.58 km² (see also Table 2.1). For this area there is a combined population of 58 889 inhabitants (STATISTIK AUSTRIA, 01.10.2014).

Most of the larger towns in the implementation area are situated along the river .

Picture 1.1: The location of districts Krems-Land and Melk within the province of (coloured areas). Source: [1]

Krems-Land District Krems-

Land

Vienna Melk

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Picture 1.2: Municipalities covered by the implementation area of Waldviertel (coloured areas). Source: [1]

Krems-Land: 8 Municipalities

Melk: 14 Municipalities

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The organizational structure of Austria includes 9 Provinces. Each of them is subdivided into administrative districts with local municipalities. The structure of organization for the implementation area of Waldviertel can be seen in Figure 1.1.

Figure 1.1: Municipalities of the implementation area of Waldviertel with relation to administrative levels of the federal state of Austria

Federal State of Austria

Province of Lower Austria

2 Administrative Districts of Krems- Land and Melk

22 local municipalities

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1.2 The area geography and constraints

The local geography constraints that comprise physical restrictions to the mobility of people and vehicles and can be found at the area of Waldviertel are the following:

1. Danube The most significant factor in mobility restriction in the implementation area is the river Danube. There are two ferries crossing the river carrying vehicles and some further seasonal ferries for pedestrians and cyclists only. Bridges crossing the river only at Melk and Krems, which are the most Eastern and Western municipalities of the implementation area. 2. Mountains There are a lot of small hills and mountains in the Waldviertel area and there is a steady gradient of increasing altitude moving from the river Danube to the back country which results in a difference in altitude up to 400 m within settlements of the implementation area (Table 1.1). Most of the movement of vehicles is therefore limited to a small amount of roads in narrow valleys connecting the smaller villages.

Table 1.1 shows all of the local municipalities in the implementation area of Waldviertel with their altitude above mean sea level and position according to the Danube.

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Table 1.1: Municipalities of implementation area of Waldviertel with position to river Danube and altitude Located at Altitude amsl Municipalities Danube [m] District of Melk Artstetten-Pöbring  395  240  240  285  219 Melk  213 Münichreith-Laimbach  675 Persenbeug-Gottsdorf  230 Pöggstall  462  506 Schönbühel-  210  349 an der Donau  224  498

District of Krems-Land Aggsbach  214 Dürnstein  209  203 Maria Laach am Jauerling  591 Mühldorf  360 Rossatz-Armsdorf  225 Spitz an der Donau  223 Weißenkirchen in der  224

Source: [2]

1.3 Transport and mobility infrastructure offered The basic road network of the area is comprised by:  Federal Roads: 25, 36, 216, 3, 33  Local network of state roads connecting the smaller villages  The river Danube offering infrastructure for shipping which is especially important in summer and spring because of increased touristic activities during this time of the year and freight transport, the only harbour for cargo in the implementation area is Krems.  Bicycle path along the Danube (especially attractive to tourists)

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2 Socioeconomic and demographic structure

In this section, the main population characteristics are being presented. The data are based on the official data of Statistik Austria.

Table 2.1 presents the permanent population per municipality, the surface and the population density as well as the settlement space per municipality (excluding e.g. water surface, forests, protected land and deserted land).

Table 2.1: Population, surface and population density of municipalities and districts of the Waldviertel implementation area.

Population Population Life Permanent density per density per settlement Districts and Municipalities population Surface [km²] km² of km2 of total space settlement surface (2011) [km²] space District of Melk 29.868 416,41 72 193,80 154 Artstetten-Pöbring 1.167 27,40 43 15,61 75 Emmersdorf an der Donau 1.720 29,69 58 11,59 148 Hofamt Priel 1.699 39,63 43 10,86 156 Leiben 1.357 12,55 108 7,91 172 Marbach an der Donau 1.642 10,68 154 6,42 256 Melk 5.254 25,75 204 16,52 318 Münichreith-Laimbach 1.675 38,82 43 17,96 93 Persenbeug-Gottsdorf 2.269 8,32 273 5,58 407 Pöggstall 2.468 58,98 42 30,81 80 Raxendorf 1.057 36,05 29 18,85 56 Schönbühel-Aggsbach 1.033 28,48 36 6,00 172 Weiten 1.120 28,46 39 12,58 89 5.592 23,78 235 15,96 350 Yspertal 1.815 47,82 38 17,15 106

District of Krems-Land 29.021 153,17 189 44,28 655 Aggsbach 683 13,71 50 3,22 212 Dürnstein 868 16,71 52 5,23 166 Krems an der Donau 24.032 51,7 465 31,73 757 Maria Laach am Jauerling 947 36,35 26 15,99 59 Mühldorf 1.393 28,43 49 10,52 132 Rossatz-Armsdorf 1.098 39,21 28 6,23 176 Spitz an der Donau 1.680 23,85 70 6,62 254 Weißenkirchen in der Wachau 1.432 23,34 61 6,99 205

Area of Waldviertel Totals 58.889 569,58 103 238,08 247

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Source:[2] [3]

Table 2.2 showcases the population of the municipalities in the implementation area from 1991, 2001 and 2011 as well as the population change in % from 1991 to 2011. Although there are some municipalities with an increase in population it can be seen that in average there is a decrease in permanent population in the implementation area.

Table 2.2: Permanent population (2011, 2001 and 1991) and percentage change of permanent population of the municipalities of the districts Krems-Land and Melk from 1991 to 2011

Permanent Permanent Permanent Population Municipalities population population population change [%] (2011) (2001) (1991) District of Melk Artstetten-Pöbring 1 167 1 178 1 170 -0.26 Emmersdorf an der Donau 1 720 1 706 1 631 5.46 Hofamt Priel 1 699 1 648 1 624 4.62 Leiben 1 357 1 289 1 344 0.97 Marbach an der Donau 1 642 1 664 1 620 1.36 Melk 5 254 5 222 5 139 2.24 Münichreith-Laimbach 1 675 1 687 1 723 -2.79 Persenbeug-Gottsdorf 2 269 2 118 2 033 11.61 Pöggstall 2 468 2 594 2 732 -9.66 Raxendorf 1 057 1 101 1 132 -6.63 Schönbühel-Aggsbach 1 033 1 033 1 045 -1.15 Weiten 1 120 1 153 1 125 -0.44 Ybbs an der Donau 5 592 5 684 5 770 -3.08 Yspertal 1 815 1 900 1 834 -1.04

District of Krems-Land Aggsbach 683 719 735 -7.07 Dürnstein 868 931 1 002 -13.37 Krems an der Donau 24 032 23 713 22 766 5.56 Maria Laach am Jauerling 947 963 923 2.60 Mühldorf 1 393 1 443 1 474 -5.50 Rossatz-Armsdorf 1 098 1 197 1 127 -2.57 Spitz an der Donau 1 680 1 769 1 931 -13.00 Weißenkirchen in der Wachau 1 432 1 494 1 563 -8.38

Source: [2] [3]

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The following figure displays the distribution of age for the districts of Krems-Land and Melk. It can be seen that the age of the vast majority of inhabitants is between 40 and 60 but that there also is a quantity of inhabitants with an age of more than 60 years. These people are the ones with a more complex need in terms of transport and it should also be noted that most of them are not well versed in the latest technology according public transport. Thus they fit perfectly into the target group of this project.

Figure 2 2: Age distribution of the permanent population by gender [%] Männer=men, Frauen=women, Alter=age

Source: [4]

As far as the gender distribution is concerned, there is no recognizable split. The amount of male and female inhabitants can nearly be considered as 50:50.

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Looking at the economic activities of the implementation area regarding to economic sectors there are a total of 1 856 people working in the primary sector, 7 288 people working in the secondary sector and the vast majority of 21 843 people working in the tertiary sector. Therefore the total amount of working people in the implementation area is 30 978. A total amount of 17 389 people are commuting outwards of the implementation area whereas the amount of inward-commuting people is 19 508.

Figure 2.3: Employed inhabitants per economic sector (in percent) 5.99%

23.53% primary sector secondary sector tertiary sector 70.48%

Source: [2]

Speaking of education it has to be noted that there are 57 schools (mostly primary schools) in the implementation area whereat though 22 of them are situated in Krems an der Donau alone. The only municipality without any educational institution is Hofamt Priel.

Especially in summer and spring there are a lot of touristic activities in the area of Waldviertel which demands a special attention in terms of public transport systems. In the district of Krems-Land alone there were as many as 397 952 overnight stays in 2013, in the district of Melk there were 248 033 overnight stays. Because the implementation area is just a part of these two districts the total amount of 645 985 overnight stays has to be slightly reduced but still it is quite obvious that touristic activities are cause of a lot of traffic in the area.

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3 Regional public transport systems

The main centres of public transport in the area are the two larger cities of Melk and Krems. Most of the smaller transport lines are connecting the villages with either Melk or Krems from where there are train connections to Linz/St. Pölten/Vienna (from Melk) and Vienna (from Krems).

In Fact there are the following key lines of public transport within the implementation area (see also figure 3.1):

 WL1 – between Melk and Krems, left side of Danube  WL2 – between Melk and Krems, richt side of Danube  WA50 – between Pöggstall and Ybbs an der Donau  WA51 – between Pöggstall and Melk

These lines are not serviced by a single public enterprise but are operated by a group of three private ventures on behalf of the federal state of Lower Austria since 01.09.2014. The three companies operating these lines are “Gschwindl”, “Zuklin” and “Pichelbauer”.

Figure 3.1: Key lines of public transportation in the implementation area

Source: [5]

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In the following section there is a short review of the 4 key bus lines in the area as well as other lines and aspects of public transport available. Generally speaking for the bus lines it can be said that there are between 6 and 8 buses in service on each line. All of them are standard models (12 m long and approximately 40 to 60 seats).

WL1 (Wachau-Line 1):

The buses of the WL1 run between Krems and Melk on the left bank of the Danube in hourly intervals. The Price for a single ticket (adult) is € 7.70

WL2 (Wachau-Line 2):

The buses of the WL2 run on the right side of the Danube between Krems and Melk at intervals of two hours.

WA50 (Waldviertel-Line 50):

This line runs from Pöggstall to Melk and vice versa in intervals of two hours.

WA51 (Waldviertel-Line 51):

This line runs from Pöggstall to Ybbs an der Donau and vice versa in intervals of roughly an hour.

For all bus lines in the implementation area there is one pay scale. The price of a trip depends on the travelled distance. For further details see Table 3.1.

Table 3.1: Single ticket prices for bus lines in the implementation area

Travelled distance [km] Single ticket price (adult ticket) [€] 1-5 2.10 6-10 2.70 11-15 3.60 16-20 4.30 21-25 5.20 26-30 6.10 31-35 7.00 36-40 7.70

For example: A trip from Melk to Krems (~ 37 km) costs € 7.70.

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Wachau railway line:

The wachau railway line exists since 1909 and runs between Krems and Emmersdorf an der Donau (opposite of Melk over the Danube) and is therefore more or less sharing the route with the WL1 line. It is listed as world cultural heritage and is more used as a sightseeing ride than for the purpose of transport itself nowadays with seasonal traffic only.

The line is not electrified and the diesel driven locomotive offers about 170 seats as well as room for about 40 bicycles.

Park & Ride / Bike & Ride:

Park & Ride as well as Bike & Ride is offered in Krems and Melk. In Krems there is a Park & Ride garage with 655 parking lots, Bike & Ride offers space for 223 bikes to park (roofed).

In Melk there are 300 Park & Ride parking lots as well as parking space (roofed) for 58 bicycles.

In the other villages there are options for informal park and ride and bike and ride as no on-street parking restrictions occur.

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Nextbike:

Besides the already mentioned public transport facilities there is also a bike renting system offered in parts of the implementation area, a service called “Nextbike”. With this service it is possible to rent bikes at certain locations for very cheap conditions and return it at any other rental station. Everything needed is a one-time registration. Afterwards it is possible to use an app on smartphones to rent the bikes at the Nextbike stations for 1€/hour or 8€/day.

Figure 3.2 shows the general areas of availability of the Nextbike service and also the locations that are located in the implementation area. It can easily be seen that all of them are aligned along the Danube (Danube bicycle path) and this service cannot be accessed form the back country.

Figure 3.2: Nextbike regions in lower Austria and Nextbike stations located in the implementation are of Waldviertel

source: [6], [7]

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Boats:

Although there is a variety of boat rides offered along the Danube none of them matters in terms of public transportation by the means of this project because all of them are mainly for touristic purposes as well as mainly offered in summer and spring. The crossing of the river (especially at two places with car ferry) plays some role for internal trips.

Taxi:

There are some private taxi companies mostly settled along the Danube. The taxis can be ordered by phone and provide a fast possibility to reach the cities of Krems or Melk for connection to further public transportation systems. However these companies play a larger role in the back country and especially for elderly people with difficulties of using other systems of public transport.

4 References

[1] http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Karte_A_Noe_KR.svg (10.11.2014) [2] Amt der Niederösterreichischen Landesregierung, http://www.noel.gv.at/Land- Zukunft/Zahlen-Fakten/Land-Bezirke-Gemeinden.html (11.11.2014) [3] Statistik Austria „Ein Blick auf die Gemeinde“, http://www.statistik.at/blickgem/index.jsp (11.11.2014) [4] Statistik Austria, http://www.statistik.at/web_de/downloads/webkarto/bevoelkerungspyramide_regional/ (11.11.2014) [5] OpenStreetMap, www.openstreetmap.org (25.11.2014) [6] NÖ Energie- und Umweltagentur Betriebs GmbH, http://www.nextbike.at/niederoesterreich.html (21.11.2014) [7] NÖ Energie- und Umweltagentur Betriebs GmbH, Nextbike Infofolder Wachau, http://www.nextbike.at/fileadmin/austria/Karten/2014/Next_Folder_2014_Wachau.pdf (20.11.2014)

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