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Household Transport in 2006
15/10/2007
Differences in the transport patterns for different groups of people are shown in a statistical bulletin called Household Transport in 2006: some Scottish Household Survey results which was released today by Scotland's Chief Statistician.
Since 1999, the Scottish Household Survey (SHS) has provided background to many trends in transport, by asking people how and why they travel, and about their views on a range of transport issues. Among the main findings are that, in 2006:
- Two-thirds of commuters travelled to work by car or van (60 per cent as a driver and 7 per cent as a passenger), 14 per cent walked and 12 per cent went by bus. In recent years, driving to work has risen and getting a lift has fallen
- 51 per cent of pupils walked to school, 24 per cent went by bus and 22 per cent by car. In recent years, walking to school has fallen and going by car has risen
- 68 per cent of households had at least one car, and 24 per cent had two or more. In recent years, both percentages have risen
- 66 per cent of people aged 17 or over had a full driving licence: 77 per cent of men compared to 58 per cent of women. In recent years, the figure for men has remained steady, whereas the figure for women has increased.
The sections below describe the main points shown by the statistics. Sampling variability can cause year-to-year fluctuations. For some topics, figures are unavailable for 1999 because the relevant questions were added to the survey later.
Travel to work
- 11 per cent of employed adults worked at or from home in 2006, compared with under 8 per cent in 1999
- Two-thirds of commuters said that they travelled to work by car or van (60 per cent as a driver and 7 per cent as a passenger), 14 per cent walked, 12 per cent went by bus, 3 per cent took a train and 2 per cent cycled
- 65 per cent of men drove to work compared to 56 per cent of women. Commuting by car rose with the annual net income of the household, from 45 per cent for commuters from "up to £10,000" households to 80% for those from "over £40,000" households
- Car drivers were the least likely to change their mode of travel to work
- Since 1999, driving to work has risen from 55 to 60 per cent, and getting a lift has fallen from 12 per cent to 7 per cent. There has been little change in the use of other modes of transport
Travel to school
- 51 per cent of pupils walked, 24 per cent used a bus, 22 per cent went by car or van, and 1 per cent cycled
- 59 per cent of primary school age pupils walked, as did 42 per cent of secondary school age pupils. 29 per cent of pupils from households with an annual net income of over £40,000 travelled by car, compared with only 12 per cent of those from "up to £10,000" households
- 35 per cent of pupils who travelled to school by car could use public transport. The main reasons identified for not doing so were "prefer to use a car" (40 per cent of them), "inconvenient" (38 per cent) and "too young to travel on own" (36 per cent)
- Since 1999, walking to school has fallen from 55 to 51 per cent and going by car has risen from 18 to 22 per cent. There has been little change in the use of the other modes of transport
Cars
- 68 per cent of households had at least one car, and 24 per cent had two or more. Car availability rose with the annual net income of the household, from 38 per cent of households in the "up to £10,000" band to 99 per cent in the "over £40,000" band. 57 per cent of households in large urban areas had a car, compared with around 86 per cent in rural areas. Only 42 per cent of households in the most deprived quintile (20 per cent) of areas in Scotland had a car, compared with 85 per cent in the least deprived quintile
- Since 1999, the percentage of households with one or more cars has risen from 63 to 68 per cent, and the percentage with two or more cars has increased from 18 to 24 per cent
- Households' average expenditure on fuel for cars tended to rise steadily with income, and was highest in accessible rural areas
Driving
- 66 per cent of people aged 17 and over had a full driving licence: 77 per cent of men (but only 58 per cent of women) and 79 per cent of 40 to 49 year olds
- Since 1999, the percentage of men with a driving licence has hardly changed, but the figure for women has risen from 52 to 58 per cent
- 40 per cent of people aged 17 and over said that they drove every day: 48 per cent of men compared with 34 per cent of women. 55 per cent of people aged between 40 and 49 drove every day
- 90 per cent of drivers who shopped at a supermarket always used a car to do so, as did 69 per cent of drivers who visited friends or relatives. Of seven different types of journey, the percentage of drivers who always used a car who would find it easy to use another means of transport was highest for shopping for small amounts of food (49 per cent), and lowest for supermarket shopping (18 per cent), visiting friends or relatives (19 per cent) and evenings out for leisure purposes (22 per cent)
Public transport and concessionary travel
- 44 per cent of adults had used a local bus service in the month prior to the interview, and 19 per cent had used a train. 13 per cent of women and 10 per cent of men said that they had used a local bus every day or almost every day, as did 18 per cent of adults living in large urban areas
- Since 2002, the percentage who had used a local bus in the past month has risen from 41 to 44 per cent; for train, the rise was from 14 to 19 per cent
- 14 per cent of adults said that they would feel "very safe", and 41 per cent would feel "fairly safe", when travelling by bus in the evening. However, 8 per cent would feel "not safe at all", and 15 per cent "not particularly safe": percentages which were higher for those who never used evening buses than for those who did so
- 85 per cent of all householders said they were up to 6 minutes walk away from a bus stop. Overall, 23 per cent of householders said that there were at least five buses per hour at the nearest bus stop: 44 per cent in large urban areas but only 1 per cent or less in rural areas and "remote" small towns
- Since 1999, the percentage saying that there were at least five buses per hour has risen from 20 to 23 per cent
- 84 per cent of adults aged 60 and over held a concessionary travel pass (81 per cent of men and 86 per cent of women). 40 per cent of adults in this age group had used such a pass at least once a week: 34 per cent of men and 47 per cent of women
- Since 2003, the percentage of people aged 60+ holding a concessionary travel pass has risen from 77 to 84 per cent
Some other topics
- 11 per cent of adults said that they had a long-standing illness, health problem or disability and had difficulty with one or more of a number of transport-related activities, such as walking for at least ten minutes or using a bus. The percentage increased to 18 per cent of those aged 60-69, 24 per cent of 70-79 year olds and 38 per cent of people aged 80+
- 47 per cent of adults said that they had made a trip of more than a quarter of a mile by foot for pleasure or to keep fit (including walking a dog) in the previous seven days: 49 per cent of men and 45 per cent of women
- Only 4 per cent of adults said that they had cycled for pleasure or to keep fit in the previous seven days: 6 per cent of men and 3 per cent of women
- 35 per cent of households had one or more bicycles that adults could use
- 19 per cent of adults had used a road map to plan a journey by private transport in the previous month, 11 per cent had used route planning software or an internet journey planner and 8 per cent had asked a friend
- For planning journeys by public transport, 8 per cent had used a timetable displayed at a station or bus stop and 6 per cent had accessed the internet
- 17 per cent of adults had heard of Traveline Scotland, and 5 per cent had used it