The Scottish Government

This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007

Listen

Scottish Transport Statistics

25/08/2003

The latest edition of Scottish Transport Statistics was published today.

Among many facts and figures, it reveals that there were:

• 259,000 new vehicles registered in Scotland in 2002, around 18,000 (8%) more than in the previous year, 69% more than in 1992 and the highest number ever recorded
• 441 million passenger journeys (boardings) on local bus services in 2001-02, 1% more than in the previous year. This was only the fifth increase since current records began in 1975, and the first time since then that there have been increases in three consecutive years. However, the 2001-02 figure was 23% less than in 1991-92
• greater volumes of traffic in 2002 than in any previous year, 4% more than in 2001, and 18% more than in 1993 (the first year for which the Department for Transport has estimated total traffic on Scottish roads)
• 62.2 million rail passenger journeys originating in Scotland in 2002-03 - a 5% drop, reflecting the effect on services of the drivers' pay dispute. However, the 2002-03 figure was about 3% more than ten years earlier
• almost 19.8 million air terminal passengers at airports in Scotland in 2002 - about 1.7 million (9%) more than in the previous year, 91% more than in 1992, and the highest number ever recorded

Key points from the report are set out below, in the same order as the chapters.

Motor vehicles licensed:

• There were over 2.3 million motor vehicles licensed in Scotland in 2002, 3% more than the previous year, an estimated 27% more than in 1992, and the highest number ever recorded

• There were 259,000 new vehicles registered in Scotland in 2002, around 18,000 (8%) more than in the previous year, 69% more than in 1992 and the highest number ever recorded

• There were 46 motor vehicles per hundred population in Scotland in 2002, compared with 53 per hundred population for Great Britain as a whole

Bus and coach travel:

• There were 441 million passenger journeys (boardings) on local bus services in 2001-02, 1% more than in the previous year. This was only the fifth increase since current records began in 1975, and the first time since then that there have been increases in three consecutive years. However, the 2001-02 figure was 23% less than in 1991-92

• The distance travelled by local bus services was 373 million vehicle kilometres in 2001-02, the same as in the previous year, and 5% more than in 1991-92
• Other (non-local) bus services travelled an estimated 149 million vehicle-kilometres, 7% less than in the previous year, and 14% less than in 1991-92
• There were 87 local bus journeys per head of population in Scotland in 2001-02 compared with 76 per head in Great Britain as a whole

Road freight:

• The total amount of freight lifted by UK HGVs in Scotland in 2002 was over 154 million tonnes, about 4 million tonnes more than in the previous year, but slightly lower than the amount lifted ten years earlier (157 million tonnes). Over the past ten years, the total has usually been close to the average for the period of about 157 million tonnes per year; 1996 and 2001 were exceptions, with unusually low values

Toll bridges:

• An estimated 23.4 million vehicles crossed the Forth Road Bridge in 2002 (about 64,000 per day), more than in any previous year, and 31% more than in 1992. The Erskine, Skye and Tay bridges also had record numbers of crossings in 2002

Road network:

• There were about 54,600 kilometres of public road in Scotland at 1 April 2002. About 14% of this is within the area of the Highland Council, around 10% is in Aberdeenshire and 8% is in Dumfries and Galloway

Road traffic:

• There were greater volumes of traffic in 2002 than in any previous year, 4% more than in 2001, and 18% more than in 1993 (the first year for which the Department for Transport has estimated total traffic on Scottish roads)

• The Department for Transport (DfT) has revised its estimates of the total volume of traffic for Scotland, and for Great Britain as a whole, following improvements to its estimation methodology. The new figures, which have been produced for each year back to 1993, supersede those published previously. In some cases, there have been large changes
• DfT estimates that the total volume of traffic on Scotland's roads in 2002 was about 41.3 billion (thousand million) vehicle-kilometres. Traffic on Motorways totalled an estimated 5.6 billion vehicle kilometres (14% of all traffic), trunk A roads for 9.6 billion (23%), and non-trunk A roads for 11.8 billion (29%). Minor roads (B, C and unclassified roads) accounted for the remaining 35%: an estimated 14.3 billion vehicle kilometres, most of which was on unclassified roads (8.1 billion)
• The new estimates show increases in every year since 1993 (apart from 2000, which was affected by the fuel protests) - unlike DfT's previous estimates, which had suggested that the total volume of traffic on major roads had remained broadly unchanged after the mid-1990s
• Motorway traffic was estimated to have increased by 42% since 1993 - much more rapid growth than on trunk A roads (18%) and non-trunk A roads (13%). Traffic on minor roads rose by 14% between 1993 and 2002

Injury road accidents:

• There were 304 people fatally injured in road accidents in 2002, 43 (12%) less than the previous year, and the lowest number of deaths for more than 50 years

• 3,212 people were seriously injured in road accidents in 2002, 195 (6%) fewer than in 2001, and the lowest figure since statistics of serious injuries began in 1950
• There were 15,732 people recorded as slightly injured in 2002, 426 (3%) fewer than in the previous year, and the lowest number since 1955
• The total number of casualties was 19,248, 664 (3%) lower than in 2001 and the lowest figure since 1954

Rail services:

• 62.2 million rail passenger journeys originating in Scotland in 2002-03 - a 5% drop, reflecting the effect on services of the drivers' pay dispute. However, the 2002-03 figure was about 3% more than ten years earlier

• 6.8 million tonnes of freight were lifted by rail in 2001-02, 17% more than in the previous year but only about three-quarters of the amount in 1991-92
• Per head of population, fewer passenger journeys originate in Scotland (12.3 per head in 2002-03) than in Great Britain as a whole (17.1)

Air transport:

• almost 19.8 million air terminal passengers at airports in Scotland in 2002 - about 1.7 million (9%) more than in the previous year, 91% more than in 1992, and the highest number ever recorded

• There were about 7.8 million terminal passengers at Glasgow airport in 2002, a 7% increase on the previous year, Edinburgh airport had 6.9 million (up 14%), and Aberdeen had over 2.5 million (up 1%). Over the past ten years, the increases at these airports were: Edinburgh 172%; Glasgow 66%; and Aberdeen 18%

• There were almost 1.3 million passenger journeys directly between the main Scottish airports and Spain (excluding the Canary Islands). Amsterdam was the most popular international airport, with about 1.06 million passenger journeys directly to and from the main Scottish airports, followed by Dublin (0.99 million)

Water transport:

• In 2001, a total of 89.5 million tonnes of freight was recorded as being lifted by water transport in Scotland: 20.6 million tonnes of "coastwise" traffic to other ports in Scotland or elsewhere in the United Kingdom, 1.9 million tonnes of "one port" traffic to offshore installations and the sea bed, and 67.0 million tonnes of exports from the major Scottish ports
• In 2002, the total number of passengers carried on Caledonian MacBrayne, P&O Scottish Ferries / NorthLink Orkney and Shetland Ferries, and Orkney Ferries services (the routes for which figures are available back to 1973) was nearly 5.4 million, 1% more than in the previous year

Personal travel:

• Cars, vans and lorries accounted for over three-quarters of the average of around 7,200 miles which was travelled per person per year in the period 1999 to 2001

• In 2002, the Scottish Household Survey found that 68% of those who travelled to work usually went by car or van, 13% walked, 12% went by bus, 3% by rail, 1% cycled and 2% used another means of transport (such as motorcycle, taxi and ferry)

• About 56% of school-children usually walked to school in 2002, 22% usually travelled by bus, 19% by car or van, 1% cycled and 2% used another means of transport (such as rail, taxi and ferry)
• Scottish residents made an estimated 3.7 million visits abroad in 2001. In about 3.4 million cases they flew, mainly from Glasgow (1.7 million), Edinburgh (0.6 million) and London Heathrow (0.4 million). Around 0.3 million visits were made by sea, and 0.04 million via the Channel Tunnel

Scottish Transport Statistics costs £10 and may be purchased from The Stationery Office Bookshop, 71 Lothian Road, Edinburgh EH3 9AZ (telephone: 0131 228 4181).