The Scottish Government

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

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Scottish Transport Statistics

26/08/2005

The latest edition of Scottish Transport Statistics was published today.

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

• 262,800 new vehicles registered in Scotland in 2004, around 400 (0.2 per cent) more than in the previous year, 55 per cent more than in 1994 and the highest number ever recorded
• greater volumes of traffic in 2004 than in any previous year, 2 per cent more than in 2003, and 19 per cent more than in 1994
• 449 million passenger journeys (boardings) on local bus services in 2003-04, 1 per cent more than in the previous year. This was only the seventh increase since current records began in 1975, and the first time since then that there have been increases in five consecutive years. However, the 2003-04 figure was 14 per cent less than in 1993-94
• 68.7 million passenger journeys on ScotRail services in 2004-05 - a 10 per cent increase over the previous year, and about 40 per cent more than ten years earlier
• almost 22.6 million air terminal passengers at airports in Scotland in 2004 - about 1.5 million (7 per cent) more than in the previous year, 91 per cent more than in 1994, and the highest number ever recorded

Over the years, Scottish Transport Statistics has been improved greatly, by the inclusion of many new tables on a wide range of topics. This year, there are nine new tables, and some of the existing tables have been expanded to provide more information.

Key points include:

Personal travel

• Cars, vans and lorries accounted for almost four-fifths (77 per cent) of the average of around 6,700 miles which was travelled per person per year in 2002/03
• In 2004, the Scottish Household Survey found that 67 per cent of those who travelled to work usually went by car or van, 13 per cent walked, 13 per cent went by bus, 3 per cent by rail, 2 per cent cycled and 3 per cent used another means of transport (such as motorcycle, taxi and ferry)
• About 51 per cent of school-children usually walked to school in 2004, 24 per cent usually travelled by bus, 22 per cent by car or van, 1 per cent went by train, 1 per cent cycled and 2 per cent used another means of transport (such as taxi and ferry)
• Scottish residents made an estimated 3.8 million visits abroad in 2003. In about 3.6 million cases they flew, mainly from Glasgow (2.0 million), Edinburgh (0.5 million) and London Heathrow (0.4 million). Around 0.2 million visits were made by sea, and 0.05 million via the Channel Tunnel

Motor vehicles, roads. traffic, toll bridges and injury accidents

Motor vehicles licensed

• There were over 2.4 million motor vehicles licensed in Scotland in 2004, 3 per cent more than the previous year, 29 per cent more than in 1994, and the highest number ever recorded
• There were 262,800 new vehicles registered in Scotland in 2004, around 400 (0.2 per cent) more than in the previous year, 55 per cent more than in 1994 and the highest number ever recorded
• There were 48 motor vehicles per hundred population in Scotland in 2004, compared with 56 per hundred population for Great Britain as a whole

Road network

• There were about 54,500 kilometres of public road in Scotland at 1 April 2004 About 14 per cent of this is within the area of Highland Council, 10 per cent in Aberdeenshire and 8 per cent in Dumfries & Galloway.

Road traffic

There were greater volumes of traffic in 2004 than in any previous year, 2 per cent more than in 2003, and 19 per cent more than in 1994

• Department of Transport estimates that the total volume of traffic on Scotland's roads in 2004 was about 42.7 billion (thousand million) vehicle-kilometres. Traffic on Motorways totalled an estimated 6.1 billion vehicle kilometres (14 per cent of all traffic), trunk A roads for 9.9 billion (23 per cent), and non-trunk A roads for 12.2 billion (29 per cent). Minor roads (B, C and unclassified roads) accounted for the remaining 34 per cent: an estimated 14.5 billion vehicle kilometres, most of which was on unclassified roads (8.2 billion)
• Motorway traffic was estimated to have increased by 47 per cent since 1994 - much more rapid growth than on trunk A roads (18 per cent) and non-trunk A roads (13 per cent). Traffic on minor roads rose by 14 per cent between 1994 and 2004

Toll bridges

• An estimated 23.6 million vehicles crossed the Forth Road Bridge in 2004 (about 64,600 per day), slightly less than the previous year, but 24 per cent more than in 1994. The Erskine, Skye and Tay bridges all had record numbers of crossings in 2004

Injury road accidents

• There were 307 people killed in road accidents in 2004, 24 (7 per cent) fewer than the previous year, and the second lowest number of deaths for more than 50 years
• 2,741 people were seriously injured in road accidents in 2004, 207 (7 per cent) fewer than in 2003, and the lowest figure since statistics of serious injuries began in 1950
• There were 15,356 people recorded as slightly injured in 2004, 94 (1 per cent) fewer than in the previous year, and the lowest number since 1955
• The total number of casualties was 18,404, 325 (2 per cent) lower than in 2003 and the lowest figure since 1953

Public transport: bus, rail, air and ferry

Bus and coach travel

• There were 449 million passenger journeys (boardings) on local bus services in 2003-04, 1 per cent more than in the previous year. This was only the seventh increase since current records began in 1975, and the first time since then that there have been increases in five consecutive years. However, the 2003-04 figure was 14 per cent less than in 1993-94
• The distance travelled by local bus services was 390 million vehicle kilometres in 2003-04, 4 per cent more than in the previous year, and 8 per cent more than in 1993-94
• Other (non-local) bus services travelled an estimated 124 million vehicle-kilometres, 12 per cent less than in the previous year, and 21 per cent less than in 1993-94
• There were 89 local bus journeys per head of population in Scotland in 2003-04 compared with 78 per head in Great Britain as a whole

Rail services

• 68.7 million passenger journeys on ScotRail services in 2004-05 - a 10 per cent increase over the previous year, and about 40 per cent more than ten years earlier
• the total number of rail passenger journeys originating in Scotland in 2004-05 is not yet available, but is expected to be around 72-73 million, which would be the highest level for at least 30 years (and possibly for 40 or more years
• Glasgow Central was the busiest station in Scotland, with just under 23 million passenger journeys using national rail tickets in 2002-03. Edinburgh Waverley had over 12 million
• Of the stations which have opened or re-opened since 1970, Bathgate (585,000) and Livingston North (568,000) had the largest numbers of passenger journeys using national rail tickets in 2003-04
• Per head of population, fewer passenger journeys originate in Scotland (13.1 per head in 2003-04) than in Great Britain as a whole (17.5)

Air transport

• Almost 22.6 million air terminal passengers at airports in Scotland in 2004 - about 1.5 million (7 per cent) more than in the previous year, 91 per cent more than in 1994, and the highest number ever recorded
• There were about 8.6 million terminal passengers at Glasgow airport in 2004, a 5 per cent increase on the previous year, Edinburgh airport had 8.0 million (up 7 per cent), Aberdeen had just over 2.6 million (up 5 per cent) and Glasgow Prestwick 2.2 million (up 16 per cent). Over the past ten years, the increases at these airports were: Edinburgh 167 per cent; Glasgow 57 per cent; Aberdeen 25 per cent; and 16-fold at Glasgow Prestwick (from a relatively small figure in 1994)
• In 2004, London Heathrow accounted for 38 per cent of passengers on the main domestic routes to and from Aberdeen, 29 per cent for Edinburgh and 34 per cent for Glasgow. 80 per cent of domestic passengers using Glasgow Prestwick were travelling to or from Stansted
• There were over 1.7 million passenger journeys directly between the main Scottish airports and Spain (excluding the Canary Islands). Amsterdam was the most popular international airport, with over 1.0 million passenger journeys directly to and from the main Scottish airports, followed by Dublin (0.8 million)

Water transport

• In 2004, the total number of passengers carried on Caledonian MacBrayne, NorthLink Orkney and Shetland Ferries, and Orkney Ferries services (the routes for which figures are available back to 1973) was over 5.9 million, 3 per cent more than in the previous year. Of these, 5.3 million travelled on Caledonian MacBrayne ferries
• In 2004, 2.3 million passengers used the ferry services between Scotland and Northern Ireland, almost 1.3 million people used the Western Ferries service between Gourock and Dunoon, and there were 192,000 journeys between Rosyth and Zeebrugge

Freight transport - road, rail, water

• The total amount of freight lifted by UK HGVs in Scotland in 2004 was over 173 million tonnes. Due to a break in the series, this figure is not comparable with those for earlier years. Over the previous ten years, the total did not change much, usually remaining within a few million tonnes of the average for the period
• 8.3 million tonnes of freight were lifted by rail in 2003-04, 9 per cent less than in the previous year but an increase of two-thirds on the amount in 1993-94
• In 2003, a total of 80.0 million tonnes of freight was recorded as being lifted by water transport in Scotland: 19.5 million tonnes of "coastwise" traffic to other ports in Scotland or elsewhere in the United Kingdom, 1.5 million tonnes of "one port" traffic to offshore installations and the sea bed, and 58.9 million tonnes of exports from the major Scottish ports

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