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Foreword: The 25th Edition of "Scottish Transport Statistics "

This is the twenty-fifth edition of "Scottish Transport Statistics". To mark the occasion, this Foreword:

• provides the views of representatives of users of "Scottish Transport Statistics"; and
• describes the first edition of the publication and outlines the main changes since then.

Users' views of "Scottish Transport Statistics"

To mark the occasion, testimonials were sought from eight representatives of users of "Scottish Transport Statistics", almost all of whom are members of the Transport and Travel Statistics Advisory Committee (see www.scotland.gov.uk/transtat/ttsac ) and represent a wider group of users than just their own organisation. Their views appear below.

Scottish Transport Statistics provides a valuable source of summary Scottish statistics. We at the MVA Consultancy have made extensive use of these statistics, particularly the analysis of key trends, as part of our development of various Scottish Regional Transport Strategies. In particular we used time series information on car ownership, public transport boardings and traffic volumes to identify and quantify key trends in personal travel across Scotland, freight data to identify changes over time in the various freight modes (including coastal shipping via key ports), growth in air travel and the steady reduction in road accidents.

In some cases the published statistics help identify areas of interesting further in-depth analysis of the underlying data (which is usually available directly via the Scottish Executive's web-site or by contacting the relevant transport statisticians within the Scottish Executive).

Dr David Connolly, MVA Consultancy
Transport and Travel representative on the ScotStat Board

The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport ( UK) congratulates the Scottish Executive on the publication of the 25th edition of "Scottish Transport Statistics". The Institute is the professional body for professionals employed in transport and logistics. Members work in the private and public sectors in all modes of transport, supply chain, transport and logistics consultancy and in the academic world. Their individual needs for statistics vary but cover the full range provided by the Transport Statistics branch of the Scottish Executive in "Scottish Transport Statistics" and its other publications. Members in the consultancy sector and within local and national government need high quality data to carry out the analyses which are at the heart of their work and they make extensive use of the information available. At the other end of the scale, there are many members who will refer to the publications for data about their mode or business to determine trends in those parameters of immediate relevance to them. In addition, the Institute's Policy Group in Scotland uses "Scottish Transport Statistics" and other Transport Statistics publications for "sense checking" in its work on commenting on consultation papers from the Scottish Executive and other organisations. For this purpose, the availability of data via the web, with the ability to access updated versions of "Scottish Transport Statistics" tables, is particularly useful.

Stewart Dick, FCILT
representing the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport

With statistics so widely used and abused, the high level of trust placed in Scottish Transport Statistics ( STS) by all parties in the transport debate is remarkable. In our publication Scottish Transport Review, we have regularly published features where very different perspectives on transport problems are all informed by the data contained in STS.

Informing the increasingly complex transport policies for the future is a growing challenge. I am sure that STS can continue to develop to ensure that planners and investors in Scottish transport can rise to these challenges to deliver reliable evidence based solutions.

Derek Halden
Editor, Scottish Transport Review

The period since the first edition in 1980 has seen Scottish Transport Statistics ( STS) not only expand significantly in both scope and size beyond an initial 70 pages, but also evolve into an indispensable resource increasingly tailored to the needs of a broad user community. Its function as a 'one stop shop' offering convenient access to a comprehensive wealth of statistical data has long been appreciated by practitioners, notably where the ongoing maintenance of valuable time series has continued to cast light on underlying historical trends. (In this connection the significant expansion of accompanying commentary and metadata has been a particularly welcome development, where evidence-based approaches are ever increasingly reliant on robust statistical underpinning.)

More recently, with transport's advance up the policy agenda, and the creation of a new landscape in the wake of the Transport (Scotland) Act, STS has undergone a further re-focus. Most noticeable perhaps has been the integration of a wider range of geographies, and I look forward to subsequent editions providing figures for the areas covered by the new regional transport partnerships, as some Transport bulletins of Scottish Household Survey ( SHS) results already do. More generally, the steady increase in the volume of disaggregated data has been another welcome development, while the relatively recent incorporation of a European dimension has provided a valuable benchmarking tool. Again, in terms of source material, the reporting of SHS outputs not only reflects the background expansion in dedicated transport reporting, but also offers rich material to those attuned to transport's increasingly recognised cross-cutting potential.

Ron Hunter, Strathclyde Partnership for Transport
representing the Planning, Economics and Transport Research & Intelligence Group of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities

Congratulations on Issue 25 of Scottish Transport Statistics. Over the past twenty-five years, the small team working on transport statistics at the Scottish Office and then at the Scottish Executive has assembled an increasingly useful collection of transport statistics within UK programmes for reliable National Statistics. Other parts of the UK have yet to create comparable publications and our members and committee would like to thank the staff for their commitment and persistence in up-dating STS and consulting widely on possible changes.

Moving into the 21st century, STS has never marked time. It has expanded into providing an extensive range of website data while also producing the annual leaflet of Key Transport Statistics and, from 2006, the annual digest of Main Transport Trends. Many researchers and commentators have also gained from the summaries of outcomes from the transport questions in the Scottish Household Survey which the statistics team has prepared for each issue of STSG's Scottish Transport Review. We look forward with confidence to STS and allied publications in continuing the essential process of collating and presenting the solid information required as a contribution to debate and decision-taking in matters relating to transport and its role in the economy and society.

Steve Lockley
Chair, Scottish Transport Studies Group

The Transport Statistics Users' Group ( TSUG) is very pleased to have this opportunity to congratulate the Scottish Executive Transport Statistics Branch on the production of the 25th edition of Scottish Transport Statistics ( STS). Having celebrated our 20th anniversary last year, TSUG appreciates how institutions can improve with age. STS has become an institution in its own right - an eagerly awaited annual source of comprehensive and reliable information about every aspect of transport affecting Scotland. Its coverage and clarity of presentation are second to none, and very much a model for others to follow. The placing of the tables from STS on to the Scottish Executive Transport Statistics Web Site, the regular updating of those tables, and their availability for down-loading, shows how the institution of STS is seeking to improve its accessibility and value to users.

TSUG has an excellent working relationship with the Scottish Executive Transport Statistics Branch. I have no doubt that the Members of TSUG, and particularly those operating in Scotland, derive considerable value from the information which the Branch makes available through STS and its other publications. We congratulate all those who have brought STS through to its 25th edition, and wish it well for the next 25 years.

Dr Jock Robertson, Robertson Transport Consulting
representing the Transport Statistics Users Group

The Confederation of Passenger Transport UK is the trade association for bus, coach and light rail - and the voice of the industry with Government. CPT Scotland responds to all bus and coach related government (national, regional and local) consultations; lobbies politicians; participates in Government steering and working groups; and gives conference presentations giving the industry's point of view.

In preparing briefing sheets, lobbying documentation and conference presentations, CPT uses Scottish Transport Statistics. We believe in informed debate and a factual base to policy decision making - so find STS to be very useful. STS also allows CPT to monitor trends which could affect our members' future business plans.

Marjory Rodger
Confederation of Passenger Transport

Local Authorities are not only major contributors to the supply of transport and travel statistics but also major users of the information produced in the Scottish Transport Statistics publication, covering all forms of transport in Scotland. The statistical information provides the basis for the planning and development of network infrastructure and also the basis for developing travel and transport initiatives based on identified trends.

The development of statutory Regional Transport Strategies by the new Partnerships has highlighted the importance of good consistent statistical evidence provided in Scottish Transport Statistics, to form a sound basis for the emerging strategies. Equally important will be the use of regularly updated statistics to monitor the impact of the implemented strategies to ensure that the prescribed targets and objectives are being met.

Alastair Short, SESTran - the South East Scotland Transport Partnership
representing the Society of Chief Officers of Transportation in Scotland

In addition, some users of "Scottish Transport Statistics" provided unsolicited testimonials:

• now a very impressive publication - Transport Consultant;
• expanded and enhanced version already proving very useful - Local Authority
• I think that it is pretty good. Perhaps the visual appearance is rather dry but the content is good - Academic Researcher;
• generally, an unscientific poll of [name of organisation] users shows the publication to be well received - "Other" respondent
• a wonderful document … a mine of useful and comprehensive information - Jonathan Pryce, Scottish Executive, Head of Transport Strategy and Legislation Division until December 2005

The last of these testimonials followed a discussion on Transport progress indicators; the rest are taken from the results of a survey of readers of "Scottish Transport Statistics" in 2004. Most respondents simply commented on the types of statistics of interest to them (e.g. listing additional topics which they would like to see included), but some made more general statements, from which the first four of these unsolicited testimonials are taken. The survey asked for an overall assessment of how useful "Scottish Transport Statistics" was, and gave respondents a choice of three possible answers: "very useful" (which was picked by two-thirds); "quite useful" (chosen by a third) and "not useful" ( no-one ticked this box).

The development of "Scottish Transport Statistics"

The first edition appeared in June 1980, and consisted of photocopied pages stapled together between a thin card cover. Some pages were copies of tables from the "Transport" chapter of the "Scottish Abstract of Statistics" (and so had its style); others were tables which had been typed with different styles. Two pages of hand-drawn maps showed road freight flows between Scotland and the regions of England. The tables were numbered in sequence (1 to 58), and grouped into sections, which were separated by pages giving the section titles (these were: "Motor Vehicles - Stock and New Registrations"; "Public Service Vehicles"; "Freight"; "Toll Bridges"; "Annual Vehicle Miles"; "Road Lengths"; "Road Accidents"; "British Rail"; "Air Transport"; "Sea Transport" and "Finance" - so the topic structure was broadly similar to that of the current Chapters 1 to 11, which have more than twice as many tables). The first three pages provided a list of all the tables in the publication. However, there was no commentary on the statistics, there were no sections on "notes and definitions", "sources" and "further information", and there was no summary of the main points from the figures. Although a "cheap and cheerful" production, the first edition served its purpose, as a handy collection of statistics on many aspects of Transport in Scotland, and further editions were produced. There have been many improvements: the table below summarises these (most entries are for the latest 10-or-so years, as that is when "Scottish Transport Statistics" has expanded most) and the chart shows how its size has changed from one edition to the next.

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