This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Travel Diary Results 2004
20/03/2006
Differences in how, why and when people travel (for personal purposes), are shown in a statistical bulletin called Scottish Household Survey Travel Diary results for 2004 which is published today.
Some of the main findings are:
Car or van is the main mode of transport
- About 69 per cent of adults' reported journeys were by car or van: 53 per cent as a driver, and 16 per cent as a passenger
- 15 per cent of reported journeys were made on foot
- 10 per cent were bus journeys, 2 per cent were taxi/minicab journeys and 2 per cent were by rail
Commuting (25 per cent) and shopping (23 per cent) are the main purposes for which adults travel
- Commuting was the purpose of 27 per cent of journeys by men, and 23 per cent of women's journeys
- 26 per cent of journeys by women were for the purpose of shopping compared with 19 per cent of men's journeys
- Self employed people made 16 per cent of their journeys in the course of business
The majority of journeys as the driver of a car or van were made unaccompanied
- 60 per cent of car or van drivers' journeys were made unaccompanied. 27 per cent were made with two people in the car
- 85 per cent of commuting journeys made as the driver of a car or van were unaccompanied
Congestion on the roads was worst in the peak periods,and was seldom reported by residents of 'remote' areas
- overall, car drivers reported that 11 per cent of their journeys were delayed due to traffic congestion
- 24 per cent of car drivers' journeys which started between 8:00 and 8:59 a.m. on a weekday reportedly suffered delays due to congestion, as did 20-22 per cent of such journeys started between 7:00 and 7:59 am and between 4:00 and 5:59 pm
- Traffic congestion delayed only 3-4 per cent of car drivers' journeys made by people residing in 'remote' small towns and "remote" rural areas, compared to 14 per cent of journeys by drivers living in large urban areas
Public transport delays
- overall, 9 per cent of journeys by bus and train were said to be delayed
- 13 per cent of bus or rail journeys which started between 7:00 and 9:30 am. on a weekday suffered delays, as did 14 per cent of such journeys which started between 4:30 and 6:29 pm
- 49 per cent of bus journey delays were said to be caused by congestion on the roads, and 30 per cent by the bus arriving late
The level of car use varied with the purpose of travel
- 60 per cent of commuting journeys were as a driver of a car or van, as were 70 per cent of escort journeys, and 76 per cent of business journeys
- but only 33 per cent of journeys by adults going out to eat or drink, and 35 per cent of adults' journeys to and from education, were as a car/van driver
The modes of travel differed between the sexes, age-groups, annual net household income bands, and the type of area of residence
- 62 per cent of journeys by men were as a driver of a car or van compared with 45 per cent of journeys by women
- 21 per cent of journeys by women were as a passenger in a car or van in contrast to 9 per cent of journeys by men
- 17 per cent of journeys by adults in the 16-19 age group, and 25 per cent of journeys by people aged 80+, were made by driving a car or van compared with 58-63 per cent of journeys by adults in the 30-59 age-groups
- the percentage of journeys which were made as a driver of a car or van rose from 29 per cent for adults in households with an annual net income of up to £10,000 pa to 71 per cent for those in the 'over £40,000' band
- 44 per cent of journeys by adults who lived in large urban areas were made as the driver of a car/van, compared with 66-68 per cent for those who lived in rural areas
The time of travel varied with age, journey purpose and main mode of travel
- around 17-20 per cent of journeys by adults in the 16-59 age-groups started between 7am and 9:30am compared with 7-12 per cent for people aged 60+
- about a third of journeys for the purposes of "commuting", "business" and "education" started between 7am and 9:30am compared with much smaller percentages for other purposes
- 34 per cent of walking journeys, 30 per cent of cycling journeys, 27-29 per cent of car or van journeys and 36 per cent of taxi/minicab journeys took 5 to 10 minutes compared with 8 per cent of bus journeys
- 22 per cent of business journeys were over 3 hours long compared with 3 per cent of all journeys
Weekend travel was different
- slightly fewer journeys on Sundays (11 per cent of journeys) compared with 14-16 per cent of journeys on each of the other days of the week
- more shopping journeys on a Saturday (23 per cent of all shopping journeys compared with 11-15 per cent on each of the other days)
- higher percentages of journeys with purposes of "visiting friends and relatives" at the weekends