Car Dependency Persists for Commuting
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Despite efficient and free public transport, 69% of workers still use their car to go to work.
69 %
The car remains overwhelmingly dominant...
Luxembourg is one of the European countries with the highest car ownership rates per capita (678 per 1 000 inhabitants according to Eurostat in 2022). As in many other Western countries, urbanisation occurred alongside the rise of the automobile and the development of the (motor)way network, creating a snowball effect that reinforced car dependency.
In 2021 (Chart 1), the car remains the privileged mode of transport for more than two-thirds of workers (around 67% as drivers, plus an additional 2.2% as passengers). Public transport accounts for the largest share of the remaining third, with over 11% of employed people primarily using the bus, followed by the train with less than 5%, and then the tram (less than 2%), whose use as a main mode remains limited due to its limited geographical coverage. Active transport modes are the primary mode of travel for 12% of workers, split between walking (almost 10%) and cycling (over 3%).
From a methodological perspective, it is also important to note the emergence of new transport modes, such as tramways, scooters, and electric bikes, which were either absent or less developed in 2011.
Chart 1: The car far ahead of the bus for commuting to work in 2021 - Source : STATEC, RP2021
...but its use is declining in
Luxembourg City and surrounding areas
Between 2011 and 2021, the share of car use for commuting decreased from 72.3% to 69.3%, a decline offset by an increased use of walking and cycling (rising from 8.4% to 12.7%). On the other hand, the use of public transport remained stable at 17.6%, despite improvements in the service and the introduction of free public transport. In Luxembourg City, in particular, the proportion of workers using a car significantly dropped from 54% to 37%, a level comparable to that of Paris. The surrounding municipalities also observed a decline, thanks to better public transport services and the arrival of new residents who prefer alternative modes of transport. In contrast, in the north and near the borders, car use increased, particularly in Troisvierges and Kiischpelt, possibly due to the distance of new housing from public transport services.
Map 1: A contrasting evolution of the car across the territory - Source : STATEC, RP2021
Finally, less than 20% of employed people use at least two modes of transport to go to work. Chart 2 provides a more detailed breakdown of how these 20% are distributed according to the mode used for the longest duration in a multimodal combination: the bus leads for 30.4% of those using multiple transport modes, followed by walking (24.1%) and the train (15.2%). The bus and, especially, the train are typically combined with walking. It is worth noting that the car is still widely used, at 14.3%, ahead of the bicycle (9.5%) and the tram (4.6%).
Chart 2: Bus and walking primarily used in multimodal combinations - Source : STATEC, RP2021
Which mode for which distance?
Considering the distance to the workplace, the employed population is distributed as follows: 70% of employed people live less than 20 km from their workplace, 86.7% live less than 30 km away, and 94.3% live less than 40 km (Chart 3).
Chart 3: More than two-thirds of workers live less than 20 km from their workplace - Source : STATEC, RP2021
Logically, the further the distance between home and the workplace, the less walking is used.
For distances of 1 km or less, 78.3% of workers walk.
Between 1 and 5 km from the workplace, which is roughly the limit of the "15-minute city" by bike, the car is already used by half of the workers (49%).
For those living more than 5 km away, motorised transport, such as the car and bus, dominates.
From 10 km onwards, the train becomes more frequent, while the use of the bus and car decreases due to time savings. The tram is used for trips between 5 and 10 km.
Chart 4: Even for a journey of less than 5 km, the car remains widely used - Source : STATEC, RP2021
While car use remains dominant in Luxembourg, this is also due to differences in travel time.
Indeed, by car, the journey takes an average of 41.5 minutes compared to 59.7 minutes by public transport to go to the Agglomeration-Centre. These differences are more pronounced from the peripheral municipalities. Despite good infrastructure, congestion slows down car journeys, particularly in the south and north of the Nordstad, where access to the Agglomeration-Centre takes at least 45 minutes by car compared to 60 minutes by public transport. However, it should be noted that, on average, this is ultimately only a fifteen-minute difference. And more time is actually lost in the car, whereas public transport allows for other activities.
Who uses the car?
In addition to distance and travel time, the use of transport modes is also implicitly linked to the place of residence and the accessibility of the workplace. Taking into account the main modes used for commuting, we have established a typology of inhabited cells of 1 km². After several tests, we have chosen a spatial typology in three categories, highlighting the differences in mode usage.
While the location of the residence, distance, and access time help explain the differences in mode use, various factors such as gender, level of education, country of birth, or household type also provide additional explanations. Thus, for a given location, men, couples with or without children, people born in Luxembourg, those working in the public administration or retail sectors are more likely to use the car. The contrast is less pronounced for education level. Public transport and active modes are more commonly used by foreign-born workers living in the capital or medium-sized towns, with a high level of education in urban areas but relatively lower outside, working in finance or scientific fields, single, and in smaller households, while they tend to be distributed differently across the territory.
However, it should be noted that these differences in mobility observed by country of birth, education level, or employment sector are also often simply a reflection of location.
In a given location, car use is more common among:
- Men
- Couples with or without children
- People born in Luxembourg
- Workers in public administration or commerce
- Education level shows less contrast
Public transport and soft mobility are mainly used by:
- Des actifs nés à l’étranger
- Des habitants de la capitale ou de villes moyennes
- User profile:
- Higher education level in urban centers, more modest in the suburbs
- Frequently employed in the finance or science sectors
- More often single
- Belong to small households
- Geographically diverse distribution across the territory
Conclusion
Thus, despite a relative decrease in its use for commuting, the private car remains the dominant mode of transport in Luxembourg. Nevertheless, the few changes observed between 2011 and 2021 are positive, although still insufficient. The significant reduction in car use in Luxembourg City, in particular, reflects population densification and a diversity of facilities and employment opportunities.
This situation encourages short trips, with active modes becoming competitive compared to motorised transport. However, it seems more challenging to promote public transport or even carpooling. Despite numerous efforts to improve bus or train lines, establish new Park and Ride (P+R) facilities, or introduce free public transport, it is clear that the modal share of public transport is struggling to increase.
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