This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Scots averaging 20 miles a day
23/04/2002
Scots are travelling more, and further, than ever
before, according to a new statistical bulletin
Travel by Scottish Residents: some National Travel
Survey results for 1998/2000 and earlier years.
Some of the main findings are:
- An average Scottish resident travelled around 7,200
miles per year (or about 20 miles per day) within Great
Britain in 1998/2000.
- The average distance travelled per head has risen
by over 3,000 miles (72 per cent) since 1975/76, due to
the average number of trips per person per year
increasing by 20 per cent, and the average length of a
trip rising by 45 per cent.
- The average time spent travelling per person
increased by 24 per cent from 289 hours per year (or 48
minutes per day) in 1975/76 to 359 hours per year (59
minutes per day) in 1998/2000.
- Cars accounted for 85 per cent of the increase in
the distance travelled since 1975/76.
- In 1998/2000, cars accounted for about three
quarters of the total distance travelled per person. No
other mode of travel accounted for more than 10 per
cent: surface rail and local bus each accounted for 6
per cent.
- Between 1985/86 and 1998/2000, the number of trips
per person made as a car driver rose by 79 per cent,
and there were falls of 28 per cent for walking and 30
per cent for local bus.
- Shopping was the most frequent purpose of travel in
1998/2000, accounting for 22 per cent of the average of
over 1,050 trips per person per year. Commuting or
business purposes accounted for 19 per cent of
trips.
- Between 1985/86 and 1998/2000, the average distance
per person rose by 94 per cent for shopping trips, 92
per cent for other personal business (e.g. visits to
the doctor, library or church) and 42 per cent for
commuting.
- The main mode of travel for men was as the driver
of a car, accounting for 69 per cent of the distance
they covered in 1998/2000, whereas only 38 per cent of
the distance travelled by women was as a car
driver.
- In 1998/2000, people in the "top 20 per cent"
income group averaged 15 per cent more than the overall
average number of trips per person per year; people in
the "bottom 20 per cent" income group averaged 23 per
cent fewer trips than the overall average.
- People in households with cars averaged 8 per cent
more than the overall average number of trips per
person per year; people in households without a car
averaged 24 per cent fewer trips than the overall
average.
Travel by Scottish Residents: some National Travel
Survey results for 1998/2000 and earlier years costs £2, and may be purchased from the
Stationery Bookshop, 71 Lothian Road, Edinburgh EH3
9AZ.
The National Travel Survey is not designed to produce
annual figures for Scotland, so the samples for a number of
years must be combined in order to produce Scottish
results. 1975/76 is the first period for which any overall
results are available, and 1985/86 is the first for which
the main breakdowns used subsequently are available.