From the activity object standpoint, transportation is divided into goods’ transport and passengers’ transport.

Road transport of goods - transportation of goods performed with the help of road vehicles for carrying goods.

Passenger road transport (buses and minibuses, taxi and trolleybuses) – transportation of persons performed with the help of road vehicles meant for carrying persons on public roads.

Goods/passengers railway transport – movement of goods/passengers using railway vehicles between the place of loading/embarkation and the place of unloading/disembarkation.

Inland navigable waterways transport – movement of goods and passengers using ships for inland navigable ways or mixed ships for journeys which are carried out entirely (with the same ship) on inland navigable waterways.

I. Concepts and definitions used in statistics of goods’ transportation (road, railway, river, and air)  

Goods transported with road transport, in tonnes, represent the weight of transported goods within a certain period of time. This category includes the goods transported with own or rented transportation means, regardless of the place of expedition or destination. Road transport of goods includes the goods carried with road vehicles registered in Moldova.

Weight of goods transported with road transport covers the transported goods within a certain period of time. The weight of transported goods is registered when shipping them. The weight of transported goods includes goods’ own weight and the weight of packing, containers, or pallets used for transporting the goods.

Goods transported by railway include the goods loaded in wagons and shipped by railway, regardless of the place of destination. They also include the goods loaded on a foreign railway network and transported on a Moldovan railway to be unloaded in the country or to be transited through the country.

Weight of the goods transported by railway represent the weight in tonnes of goods carried with railway transport. The railway transport covers the goods loaded in wagons and shipped by railway, regardless of the place of destination, as well as the goods loaded in wagons which entered through border railway stations. The quantity of goods transported by railway is registered when shipping the goods. When establishing the weight of transported goods (in tonnes), the following is also taken into account: the weight of packaging, containers or pallets used for transportation, as well as the road vehicle for carrying the goods transported by railway.

Goods and mail transported by airport transport represent the quantity of goods and mail shipped through a certain flight (with the same number) registered one single time. The weight of goods also includes the weight of containers and packing, express mail, diplomatic mail, excluding the passengers’ luggage and board supplies.

Turnover of goods is determined by the weight of transported goods and the distances passed by the vehicles which carry out the transportation from the loading place (shipment) to the unloading place (destination).

Net operation turnover of goods – for goods trains – is calculated by summing up the results of multiplying the weight of loaded goods with the distance traveled by the train on the railway, on the territory of Moldova.

Tariff turnover of goods – for goods trains – is calculated by summing up the results of multiplying the quantity of transported goods with the distances travelled by the goods transport, from the shipment place till the destination place for national transport. In case of international and transit transport, only the distance travelled within the railway network on the territory of the country is taken into consideration. Tariff turnover of goods is calculated on the segment from the loading place to the unloading place, depending on the distance registered in the goods transport document. The turnover of goods is registered during the calendar period when the shipment was performed.

Average goods transport distance characterizes the average length traveled by the good, expressed in km. It is calculated as a division between the turnover of goods and volume of transported goods. 

National transport of goods represents the transport performed between two places: the loading place and unloading place, both situated in Moldova.

International transport of goods covers the transport when the loading is performed in Moldova, and unloading in another country or the transport when the unloading is located in Moldova, and the loading place is situated in another country. Statistical data on international goods road transport from the statistical publications include the routes which do not transit Moldova and the traffic in transit.

Transit represents the transport performed between two places, loading place and unloading place, both being located in the same country or in different countries, without any loading or unloading on the territory of Moldova.

Road transport of goods for own account – transport performed by units with their main activity in other areas than transport, and which have in their inventory road transport means for carrying goods, and which perform transports for their own use.

Road transport of goods on others’ account – transport performed by units with their main activity in goods transport area and which perform transportation services for third parties (on others’ account) on payment basis.

Average rolling time for goods wagons expresses the average duration of a complete transport cycle of goods wagons within the network limits, respectively the average time between two consecutive loadings.

Gross average weight of goods trains is determined between the gross operation performance and number of train-km. The manoeuvre trains, the parcel traffic, duty trains and isolated locomotives are not included.

II. Concepts and definition used in statistics – passenger transport (road (bus, microbus, taxi, trolleybus), railway, river, and air).

Transported passengers represent the embarked passengers to any destination, regardless if the departure takes place on the territory of country or not, conditioned that the vehicle belongs to the transport operator from our country or is rented by him/her.

Railway transport includes the passengers who left the railway stations from the country, regardless of the destination, and the passengers who entered the territory of the country in wagons through railway stations.

The passengers transported by air represent the passengers of one flight having the same number, and registered one single time. The passengers in direct transit are excluded – the passengers who after a short stop continue their journey with the same flight or with a flight that has the same number as the arrival flight.

Transported passengers represent the number of persons who were transported during the year, including the passengers benefiting from free-of-charge transportation. They also include the persons transported on the basis of tickets, subscriptions, travel IDs, and other transport documents.

Turnover of passengers represents the volume of passengers transport (in passenger-km) and is determined by the number of transported passengers and the effective distance in km which was passed by every passenger.

Turnover of passengers with trolleybuses is calculated as a product of the number of transported passengers and the average circulation distance of the trolleybus passengers. The average circulation distance is established once in five years as a result of the survey performed for the flow of passengers on the trolleybus routes of the respective city, is approved in the established order and is taken into calculation as a constant measure.

Average distance for passenger transport is expressed in km. It is calculated as a ratio of the turnover of passengers and the number of transported passengers.

Passenger is any person who moves around using a transportation means, except for the personnel on duty of the passenger transport.

Passenger-kilometer is the unit of measure which represents the transport of one passenger over a distance of one kilometer. It is the distance passed effectively by the passenger.

Passenger road transport: the operation through which persons’ movement is performed with the road vehicle on a road opened for public circulation, on pre-established distances and conditions. From activity standpoint, it is classified in pubic road transport and own account road transport.

Public passenger road transport is the fee -based road transport performed on contract basis by the road transport operators only with the road vehicles held in possession, at the board of which, during the whole duration of the transportation, there is a copy of the transport license, as well as the route license or the international transport authorization or the transport document corresponding to the occasional services, as the case may be.

Tourist transport is the occasional transport service which ensures the movement of a group of persons for touristic purposes.

Occasional passenger transport service is an activity of public passenger transport, performed on contract basis for every route, which cannot be defined as a regular service or special regular service, used to transport groups of persons established in advance, upon the initiative of a person, due to some events, special manifestations, circular trips of recreational nature, tourism, and other.

III. Concepts and definition used in statistics – international airport traffic

Airport traffic represents embarkation/disembarkation of passengers and loading/unloading of goods and mail in/from national or foreign aircrafts which take off/land on the International Airport Chisinau, as well as movements of aircrafts in this airport.

Commercial air transport service: operation of an aircraft in one or more flight stages carried out on regular basis or not, designated for public fee-based transport of passengers and/or goods and mail.

Regular commercial air transport service (according to a timetable): service provided through flights or extra flights in case of traffic affluence, carried out according to a published timetable or with a frequency that will constitute a systematic series, opened for public direct reservations.

Non-regular commercial air transport service: service provided through commercial flights other than the regular ones. The flights of air taxi type are also included.

International flight: transport of passengers and/or goods and mail which is performed to, from and inside of the country or between countries different from the one in which the transport operator is located.

Loaded and unloaded goods and mail: quantity of goods and mails loaded to be transported and respectively unloaded from the aircraft at the place of destination.

Regular air routes represents the series of the flight with the following characteristics:

Non-regular air routes are the paid-for flights, other than the ones indicated in regular flights. The charter flights and other non-regular flights are included.

Total movements of aircrafts for commercial services – represents the total of paid take-offs (departures) and land-ons (arrivals) which are performed by civil aircrafts, for regular and non-regular flights.