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SCOTTISH TRANSPORT STATISTICS No 22 - 2003 Edition
PREFACE
Introduction and Years Covered
This is the 2003 edition of "Scottish Transport Statistics", and is the twenty second publication in the series. In most cases, this volume provides figures for the years up to 2002, or up to the 2001-02 financial year. However, in some cases, the latest statistics available at the time of going to press were for an earlier year, or for a later year. In cases where figures for two years have become available since the previous edition was published, they are given for both years.
Where tables cover a run of years, the aim is that they should provide figures for eleven years (eg for each year from 1992 to 2002, inclusive) to enable the reader to see how the latest year's figure compares with that of ten years earlier. However, this is not always possible.
The Structure of the Publication
First comes a "Summary" section, containing information about all modes of transport, which provides a compact view of the trends over the past 10-or-so years, and some comparisons with the figures for Great Britain (or the UK) as a whole. This section also includes the former "Historical Series" tables and charts, which provide information on the longer-term trends (in some cases, as far back as 1960) in some key statistics.
This is followed by 12 chapters, each on a specific topic, and each of which starts with the following sections:
1. Introduction;
2. Main Points;
3. Notes and Definitions;
4. Sources;
5. Further Information.
The "Main Points" aim to summarise the key statistics and bring out the more interesting and significant points. Readers are recommended to look at the "Notes and Definitions", when using the tables, as these provide insight and qualifications on the statistics. The "Sources" sections provide information about the sources of the statistics, and the "Further Information" sections indicate where further information about the statistics can be found.
The "International Comparisons" section then compares some figures for Scotland with those for the other EU countries, and with the overall figures for the EU as a whole.
Finally, there are some other short sections, including information about other Transport Statistics publications and information available from Transport Statistics pages of the Scottish Executive Statistics Web site.
Main Changes in this Edition
Some new tables have been added, and some existing tables changed, to provide additional information. Details of the changes made in this edition are given at the start of each chapter. A list of the new and revised tables appears overleaf. The main improvements are:
- The "Summary" and "Historical" sections have been combined, in order that there is just one description of the main trends shown by the statistics;
- A new table 1.14 has been added showing the practical driving test pass rate at test centres;
- Table 5.5 has been expanded to show the proportions of the motorway and dual carriageway trunk road networks which require close monitoring;
- Tables 6.1 to 6.4 have been revised greatly, following improvements made by the Department for Transport (DfT) to its method of estimating the volume of road traffic in Scotland and in other parts of Great Britain. DfT has produced revised estimates for traffic on major roads (Motorways and A roads) for each year back to 1993. DfT has also estimated, for the first time ever, traffic on minor roads (B, C and unclassified roads) for individual local authority areas, again producing estimates for each year back to 1993;
- A new table 10.5 shows foreign and domestic traffic by port - inwards and outwards;
- A new table 10.9 shows major ports traffic by cargo category and country of loading and unloading;
- Tables 12.7, 12.8, 12.9, 12.13, 12.14 and 12.15 have been expanded to provide time-series and, in most cases, some other extra information;
- A new "International Comparisons" section has been added.
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