The Scottish Government

« Previous | Contents | Next »

Listen

Indicators of Sustainable Development for Scotland

Indicator 16. Travel: mode

Percentage of journeys to work not using car

Source: Scottish Executive, Labour Force Survey (LFS): Office for National Statistics: Scottish Household Survey (SHS)

The relevance of the indicator

Cars do not use resources as efficiently as other forms of transport. Encouraging people to travel to work without using their car is a good way of using resources better, as well as cutting pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and congestion on our roads.

Detailed definition and source details

The indicator is defined as the percentage of adults, whose current situation is best described as self-employed, employed full or part-time, and who do not work from home, that do not use a car (or van) to travel to work. The data are from annual results of the Scottish Household Survey (SHS), which is commissioned by the Scottish Executive and has been running since 1999 ³⁸. This survey covers private households and adults in private residence. It has a large sample, so can provide statistics for different types of area within Scotland. Similar results for Scotland as a whole can be obtained from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) for 1992 onwards, and for some earlier years from the Censuses of Population ³⁹.

Trends

The SHS figures suggest a slight fall in the percentage of journeys to work that are not by car (or van) between 1999 and 2001. The results of the Labour Force Survey and the Census show larger falls over the longer term.

Further disaggregation

The SHS results can be disaggregated in many ways, including by age, gender, social class, household income band, distance between home and work, local authority and "urban" and "rural" areas ³⁹. Irrespective of the whether the area is urban or rural, less than half of workers usually travel to work other than by car (or van). About 40% of those living in large towns and small remote towns use modes other than a car (or van) for journeys to and from work. This compares with about 20% for those living in "accessible" rural areas. (See the Annex for details of the SHS "urban" and "rural" categories used below)

Source: Scottish Executive

Percentage of journeys to work not using car (or van) by "urban" / "rural" category, SHS whole year

Source: Scottish Executive

Target

To increase the proportion of non-car travel to work by 2006.

Action

Key in tackling rising road traffic levels and congestion is encouraging modal shift away from the private car to public transport, and to walking and cycling for shorter trips. The journey to work is one of the types of journeys that generate considerable discretionary travel by private car. The transport corridor studies recently undertaken on the A8, A80 and M74 illustrate the traffic and congestion problems on these 3 corridors. People are commuting over long distances, with over 60% of peak traffic made up of car commuters and over 86% of the cars on the A8 and A80 at peak times are occupied by one person. In order to reduce traffic and congestion more people need to use public transport. Public transport must be capable of catering effectively for the journeys being made, be reliable, modern and accessible. We are therefore committed to delivering top priority public transport projects flowing from the corridor studies and to providing support for additional park and ride capacity across Scotland.

« Previous | Contents | Next »