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6. The accessibility and frequency of bus services, views on the convenience and quality of public transport, frequency of use of local bus and train services, users' views on aspects of local bus services, and views on safety from crime when travelling by bus or train in the evening(Tables 10 to 17; Charts D to G)
6.1 Whether there was a bus service, and the walking time to the nearest bus stop
6.1.1 The SHS interviewer asks the householder how long it would take the interviewer to walk to the nearest bus stop (or place where one could get on a bus). The left-hand part of Table 10 shows the results. (The groupings shown in the table headings are used to avoid uncertainty about how answers like "around 5 minutes" are counted.) In 2003/2004, over half of all households (55%) were said to be up to 3 minutes walk away from the nearest bus stop, and just under a third of households (31%) were 4-6 minutes walk away from a bus stop. 9% of householders reported a 7-13 minutes walk, and only 3% said that the interviewer would have to walk for 14 minutes or longer. Just 1% of householders did not know how long it would take to walk to the nearest bus stop, and another 1% said that there was no bus service.
6.1.2 Table 10 also shows that whether there was a bus service and (if so) the walking time to the nearest bus stop differ greatly between "urban" and "rural" areas. In 2003/2004, 13% of householders in "remote" rural areas said that they had no bus service, as did 4% of those in "accessible" rural areas. A further 14% of householders in "remote" rural areas, and 10% of those in "accessible" rural areas, said that it would take at least 14 minutes to walk to the nearest bus stop (or place where one could get on a bus). Therefore, the percentages of householders who said either that they had no bus service or that they would have to walk at least 14 minutes to the nearest bus stop were about 27% for "remote" rural areas and about 14% for "accessible" rural areas, in contrast to just 1-2% of householders in urban areas and small towns. The percentage within 3 minutes walk of a bus service was only 38% for households in "remote" rural areas, and 47% for those in "accessible" rural areas, compared with between 55% and 61% of those in other types of area.
6.1.3 Chart D and Table 10 show large differences between Council areas. In 2003/2004, the percentage of householders who said that they did not have a bus service was highest in Orkney (18%) followed by Argyll & Bute, Highland and Shetland (all 6-8%). Aberdeenshire, Dumfries & Galloway, Orkney and Shetland (all 9-12%) had the highest percentages of householders who said that it would take at least 14 minutes to walk to the nearest bus stop (or place where one could get on a bus). Overall, the percentage who said either that they had no bus service or that they would have to walk for at least 14 minutes to the nearest bus stop was about 27% for Orkney, around 18% for Shetland, roughly 14% for Aberdeenshire and Highland and 11-12% for Argyll & Bute and Dumfries & Galloway. Only 32% of Orkney householders, and 36% of those in East Renfrewshire, said that that it would take no more than 3 minutes to walk to the nearest bus stop. In contrast, at least 43% of householders in every other Council area (rising to 64-66% in Aberdeen, East Ayrshire, Eilean Siar, Fife and Inverclyde) said that they were within 3 minutes' walk of the nearest bus service.
6.2 Frequency of bus services
6.2.1 The right-hand part of Table 10 analyses the frequency of bus services, as reported by householders (the interviewer does not try to check the householders' answers). In 2003/2004, 23% of householders did not know how often one could get a bus from the nearest stop during the day (this figure does not include those who said that they did not have a bus service). This percentage was highest for households in "remote" small towns (37%) and lowest for large urban areas (17%): all the other types of area had figures of 24-28%. Chart E shows that the percentages of householders who said that they did not know the frequency of the bus service ranged from 9% in Edinburgh to 35-36% in Aberdeenshire, Dumfries & Galloway, Scottish Borders and Shetland.
6.2.2 The interviewer asked about the frequency of service at the nearest bus stop (or place one could get on a bus). In cases where the householder said that the frequency of service varied, the interviewer asked for the week-day off-peak frequency. Overall, 24% of householders said that there was at least one bus every 13 minutes, another 24% thought that there was one every 14-26 minutes, a further 24% answered that there was a bus every 27-63 minutes, and 4% indicated that the interval between buses was 64 minutes or longer (this last category does not include those householders who said that they did not have a bus service). The difference between urban and rural areas was very clear: 39% of householders in "remote" rural areas said that there was one bus every 64 minutes or more, as did 12% of those in "accessible" rural areas, compared with under 1% of those in urban areas. The percentage reporting one bus every 64 minutes or more was highest for Orkney (49%), Eilean Siar and Shetland (both 37%), Argyll & Bute (24%) and Highland (19%).
6.2.3 In 2003/2004, 43% of householders in large urban areas reported at least one bus every 13 minutes, compared with small percentages of householders in small towns and rural areas. At most 3% of householders in Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll & Bute, Clackmannanshire, Dumfries & Galloway, Eilean Siar, Highland, Moray, Orkney, Scottish Borders, Shetland and West Lothian said that there was at least one bus every 13 minutes. In contrast, high percentages reported at least one bus every 13 minutes in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow (all 45-49%).
6.3 Availability of bus services to the population
6.3.1 Table 10 looked at the availability of bus services to households, whereas Table 11 does so in terms of percentages of the population. It also provides some information about the combination of the walking time to the nearest bus stop and the frequency of service there. The left hand part of Table 11 covers people in households with walking times to the nearest bus stop of up to 6 minutes. Overall, in 2003/2004, about 86% of people lived within 6 minutes walk of a bus stop, and they included 21% in households where it was said that there was at least one bus every 13 minutes, 22% with a bus every 14-26 minutes, a further 22% with a bus every 27-63 minutes, 3% with 64 or more minutes between buses, and 18% in households where the respondent did not know the frequency of the bus service. Just under 10% of people lived within 7-13 minutes walk of a bus stop, and 3% lived more than 14 minutes walk away.
6.3.2 Again, there were considerable differences between urban and rural areas. In 2003/2004, 39% of people in large urban areas were said to be within 6 minutes walk of a service with a frequency of at least one bus every 13 minutes, compared with very small percentages of those living in small towns and in rural areas. The percentage was highest for Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow (all 42-46%); thirteen Council areas had values below 5%.
6.3.3 While few people in urban areas lived within 6 minutes walk of an infrequent service (one bus every 64 or more minutes), 10% of people in "accessible" rural areas and 28% of people in "remote" rural areas did so. The percentage of people living close to an infrequent service was particularly high for Eilean Siar, Orkney and Shetland (all 28-34%).
6.3.4 Table 12 compares the figures for the three two-year periods. In general, the overall figures for Scotland did not change greatly: the biggest change was an increase from 17% to 21% in the percentage of the population said to be within six minutes walk of a bus service whose frequency was at least one bus every 13 minutes. This percentage rose in urban areas, and in the Central & Tay, North East, South East and West RTP areas, which include (respectively) Dundee, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow, with little change in other areas (where the changes were smaller and/or based on smaller samples, so were less likely to be significant statistically).
6.4 Views on the convenience and quality of public transport
6.4.1 The randomly-chosen adult member of the household is asked about the convenience of public transport and of some other types of services (such as post office, doctor's surgery, etc). The interviewer says: "… please tell me how convenient or inconvenient you would find it to make use of their services during their normal opening hours, assuming that you needed to". The left-hand part of Table 13 shows how the "convenience" of public transport was rated in 2003/2004: overall, 41% of adults said it was "very convenient" and 36% described it as "fairly convenient", 5% responded "neither convenient nor inconvenient", 4% had no opinion, 8% thought it "fairly inconvenient" and a further 7% felt it was "very inconvenient".
6.4.2 As with the availability of bus services, there is a marked difference between urban and rural areas in views of the convenience of public transport. This is illustrated in Chart F. In 2003/2004, 51% of adults in large urban areas regarded public transport as "very convenient" compared with only 19% of those in "remote" rural areas and 21% of adults in "accessible" rural areas. Aberdeen, East Renfrewshire, Edinburgh and Renfrewshire had 51-59% of the adults interviewed describing public transport as "very convenient", compared with just 20% in Clackmannanshire and 24-26% in Dumfries & Galloway, Highland, Orkney, Scottish Borders, Shetland and Stirling.
6.4.3 Public transport was rated "very inconvenient" by 27% of adults in "remote" rural areas and 21% of those in "accessible" rural areas; these areas also had a further 16-20% describing it as "fairly inconvenient". 18-21% of adults in Aberdeenshire, Dumfries & Galloway, Highland, Scottish Borders and Shetland said that it was "very inconvenient". These areas also had a further 13-16% who felt that public transport was "fairly inconvenient".
6.4.4 The randomly-chosen adult is also asked about aspects of the immediate neighbourhood: which, if any, does he/she particularly like; and which, if any, does he/she particularly dislike? The interviewer probes to establish the person's views, and can record one or more of many "likes" (including "good public transport", "area well maintained", "safe area / low crime", "friendly people" and "good local schools") and "dislikes" (such as "poor public transport", "problems with dogs", "poor local shops", "drug abuse" and "noise"). The right-hand part of Table 13 shows that, overall, in 2003/2004, 16% said that good public transport was an aspect of the neighbourhood that they liked, and 5% said that poor public transport was an aspect that they disliked.
6.4.5 Chart G shows that the percentage referring to good public transport was highest in large urban areas (26%) and lowest in "remote" rural areas (2%) and "accessible" rural areas (4%). 31-34% of adults in Edinburgh and Glasgow felt that "good public transport" was one of the aspects of their neighbourhood that they liked, as did 20-25% in East Dunbartonshire, East Lothian, East Renfrewshire, Falkirk and West Dunbartonshire, whereas under 5% of those in Aberdeenshire, Eilean Siar, Highland, Moray, Orkney and Scottish Borders did so. "Poor public transport" was one of the aspects of their neighbourhood that was disliked by 12% of adults living in "accessible" rural areas and 9% in "remote" rural areas. Among the Council areas, the highest percentages referring to poor public transport were in Shetland (14%) and Aberdeenshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Lothian, Midlothian, Perth & Kinross and Stirling (all 8-9%).
6.4.6 Table 14 compares the figures for three two-year periods. The two sets of figures for Scotland as a whole are very similar, and there were not many changes of more than a few percentage points between 1999/2000 and 2003/2004 in the results for different types of area across Scotland (the largest ones being in the "remote" types of area, which had the smallest samples). Some of the changes in the figures for RTP areas were just matters of degree - for example, the percentage saying that public transport was "very convenient" in South East fell from 44% to 39%, but this was offset by an increase from 33% to 37% in the percentage describing it as "quite convenient". The percentage of adults in Central & Tay saying that good public transport was an aspect of the neighbourhood that they particularly liked fell from 17% to 12%.
6.5 Use of local bus and train services
6.5.1 The interviewer asks the randomly-chosen adult how often he/she used the local bus service in the past month. The left-hand part of Table 15 gives the results. In 2003/2004, 11% said that they had used their local bus service "every day, or almost every day", 12% "two or three times per week", 8% "about once a week", 10% "about once a fortnight, or once a month", and 59% said that they had not used their local bus service in the past month - so 41% had done so. Use was highest in large urban areas, where 17% of adults said "every day, or almost every day" and a total of 56% had used their local bus service in the past month, and lowest in "remote" rural areas, where 2% used the bus "every day, or almost every day" and only 15% had used it in the past month. Of the Council areas, Edinburgh had the highest percentage using the local bus service "every day, or almost every day" (23%) or at any time in the past month (71%), and Glasgow had the second highest figures (20% and 56% respectively). In contrast, only 11-13% of adults in Orkney and Shetland had used their local bus service in the past month.
6.5.2 The randomly-chosen adult is asked a similar question about train services. The right-hand side of Table 15 shows that 2% said that they used a train service "every day, or almost every day" and a total of 17% had used a train in the past month. Again, usage was higher in urban areas than in rural areas. 27-33% of adults in East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire and West Dunbartonshire had used a train service in the past month.
6.6 Users' views on local bus services
6.6.1 Adults who said that they had used a local bus service in the past month are asked for their views on eleven aspects of local bus services. The interviewer says "to what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements? Generally, when I use the bus …". Table 16 shows the results. The figures for "remote" small towns, "remote" rural areas and some Council areas may be subject to large sampling errors because these areas had few bus users in the sample.
6.6.2 In 2003/2004, most users of local bus services agreed with each of the statements: the percentage ranged from 69% who agreed that "the fares are good value" to 90% who felt that "the range and price of tickets is easy to understand". For example, 71% agreed that ("generally, when I use the bus…") "the buses are on time", 79% that "the buses are frequent", 71% that "the buses are clean", 76% that they are "comfortable", 79% that "finding out about routes and times is easy", and 86% felt "personally safe and secure" on the bus.
6.6.3 In general, bus users' views did not differ greatly between the types of area: for seven of the eleven aspects, the range of values spanned only 8-13%-points ( e.g. the percentage agreeing that "the service is stable and isn't regularly changing" varied between 79% in large urban areas and 88% in "remote" rural areas, a range of 9%-points). The four aspects for which there were big differences between the types of area were:
- "the buses are on time" - from 68% in large urban areas to 91% in "remote" rural areas;
- "the buses are frequent" - from 60% in "remote" rural areas to 83% in other urban areas;
- "the service runs when I need it" - from 60% in "accessible" rural areas to 78% in other urban areas; and
- "the buses are clean" - from 67% in large urban areas to 90% in "remote" rural areas.
"Remote" rural areas had the highest percentages for seven of the eleven aspects, and large urban areas had the lowest percentages for six aspects.
6.6.4 The percentages vary much more between the different local authority areas, but one should not make too much of some of them because they are based on small samples. However, it is noteworthy that only 65% of bus users in West Lothian agreed that "the service is stable and isn't regularly changing", only 46% of bus users in Glasgow agreed that "the buses are clean", only 77% of Glaswegian users felt "personally safe and secure on the bus" and only 34% of bus users in Scottish Borders agreed that "it's easy changing to other forms of transport".
6.7 Perceptions of safety from crime when travelling by bus or train in the evening
6.7.1 The interviewer asks the randomly-chosen adult to what extent he/she feels, or would feel, safe from crime when travelling by bus or train in the evenings ("say between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m.").
6.7.2 The left hand part of Table 17 shows the results for bus travel. Overall, 14% of adults said that they felt, or would feel, "very safe" from crime when travelling by bus in the evenings, 39% felt "fairly safe", 14% felt "not particularly safe", 8% felt "not safe at all", and 25% said that they did not know. The "don't know" percentage was highest in "remote" small towns and both types of rural area (all 32-37%). The percentage who felt "very safe" rose from around 11% in urban areas to 32% in "remote" rural areas; the percentage feeling "not safe at all" fell from 11% in large urban areas to 2% in "remote" small towns and "remote" rural areas.
6.7.3 Dundee had the highest percentage who felt, or would feel, "not safe at all" (26%); Angus, East Ayrshire, Glasgow, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, South Lanarkshire and West Dunbartonshire all had values in the range 10-15%; six Councils had percentages which were at most 5%. Inverclyde and Renfrewshire had the lowest percentages who felt, or would feel, "very safe" (both 5%). The "don't know" percentage ranged from 12% in Clackmannanshire to 60% in Scottish Borders.
6.7.4 The right-hand part of Table 17 shows the equivalent results for travel by train in the evenings: 11% felt, or would feel, "very safe", 33% "fairly safe", 14% "not particularly safe", 8% "not safe at all", and 34% did not know. Again, the "not safe at all" percentage was highest in large urban areas, and the "very safe" and "don't know" percentages were highest in "remote" rural areas; Dundee had the highest "not safe at all" percentages (26%) and eight Council areas had values in the range 11-15%; the percentage who would feel "very safe" was lowest for Orkney, which had 98% saying "don't know".
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