The Scottish Government

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Glossary

Terms used in the report

Disabled people and people with a long term illness

1. The Scottish Household Survey asks: ' do you have any long term illness, health problem or disability that limits your daily activities or the kind of work that you can do?' The respondent's own assessment of what constitutes a long-standing illness, health problem or disability is therefore used rather than a medical assessment of illness. The analysis of existing SHS data uses this self- definition when referring to disabled people and those with a long term illness. Where individuals reported both being disabled and having a long term illness, they are generally included in the disabled people's group for analysis purposes. When the analysis refers to non-disabled people, it means people who did not defined themselves as being disabled or having a long term illness. The sample used in the TNS survey was drawn from the previous respondents to the SHS who had defined themselves as having a long term illness or being disabled. We also adopted the same means of categorising respondents in the TNS survey analysis.

Public Transport

2. Although the report is titled 'Improved Public Transport for Disabled People', it actually considers the travel opportunities and transport needs of disabled people. This means that all forms of personal transport are included in the report (i.e. cars, taxis, minibuses as well as buses and trains for example). When public transport is referred to in the body of the report, for example in chapter 4 when presenting evidence form the TNS survey, this does refer to a narrower definition including buses, trains, coaches, ferries and air transport that might more conventionally be described in this way.

Data Sources

Scottish Household Survey

3. The Scottish Household Survey ( SHS) is a continuous survey based on a sample of the general population in private residences in Scotland. The aim of the survey is to provide representative information about the composition, characteristics and behaviour of Scottish households, both nationally and at a more local level. The survey questionnaire is in two parts; part 1 gathers information about the household and part 2 about a randomly selected adult (aged 16+) from within the household. Further information about the SHS, including Annual and Technical reports is available at www.scotland.gov.uk/shs

SHS Travel Diary

4. The SHS Travel Diary collects information about travel by randomly selected adults from within households selected to take part in the SHS. The respondent is asked about his/her travel on the day prior to interview. Topics covered include numbers and purposes of trips, means of transport, time of day and distance travelled. Further information about, and results from, the 2005 travel diary can be found in the Scottish Executive Statistical Bulletin: Scottish Household Survey Travel Diary results for 2004 (Trn/2006/3) which is available at www.scotland.gov.uk/stats

Data analysis

Urban/rural classification

5. The Scottish Executive six-fold urban/rural classification of Scotland is used as an analysis variable within the SHS. This classification is based on settlement size and remoteness (measured by drive times). It includes the following categories:

• Large urban areas - settlements of over 125,000 people.
• Other urban areas - settlements of 10,000 to 125,000 people.
• Accessible small towns - settlements of between 3,000 and 10,000 people and within 30 minutes drive of a settlement of 10,000 or more.
• Remote small towns - settlements of between 3,000 and 10,000 people and with a drive time of over 30 minutes to a settlement of 10,000 or more.
• Accessible rural - settlements of less than 3,000 people and within 30 minutes drive of a settlement of 10,000 or more.
• Remote rural - settlements of less than 3,000 people with a drive time of more than 30 minutes to a settlement of 10,000 or more.

In the analysis carried out in the TNS survey, the six categories have been combined into 2: urban (including the first 3 categories) and rural (including the last 3 categories)

Data analysis variables

6. Categories describing analysis variables used in the TNS survey were:

Organisations and Services

Advisory Group

7. An advisory group provided advice and guidance throughout the development and conduct of the study. It included representatives from the Enterprise Transport and Lifelong Learning Department, the commissioning department, and the Equalities Unit of the Scottish Executive. Other bodies represented on the group included the Mobility and Access Committee Scotland; the Disability Rights Commission; Capability Scotland; the Association of Transport Co-ordinating Officers (local government) and the Confederation of Passenger Transport (transport operators).

Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland

8. The Mobility and Access Committee for Scotland ( MACS) is a committee set up to advise Scottish Ministers how best they should take account of the interests of disabled people in the formulation of transport policies. It members each serve for a three year term and were appointed by Scottish Ministers after an open recruitment process. MACS considers all transport consultation documents issued by the Scottish Executive and occasionally runs its own investigations. The committee applies private and public pressure to Ministers and transport operators to make changes to transport services to ensure that they are accessible to all.

Transport Direct

9. Transport Direct is a non-profit service funded by the UK Department for Transport, The Welsh Assembly Government and the Scottish Executive. It provides door-to-door travel information for both public transport journeys and car journeys around Britain through the Transport Direct Portal. It is planned that in the future, the Portal will provide integrated journey planning, real-time travel information and through ticketing. Transport Direct joins together information held by the traveline regions (see below) with road information. It also uses data and retailing services developed and funded by external stakeholders.

Traveline

10. Traveline Scotland is a partnership between Transport Operators, Local Authorities and Transport Scotland who contribute funds, information and expertise towards its day to day running. Its aim is to provide up to date, accurate, impartial and understandable information on all Public Transport services within Scotland and from Scotland to major destinations in other parts of the U.K. Traveline Scotland is one of eleven partnerships across the U.K. which, together, deliver the National Traveline Service.

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