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5. Personal travel (e.g. driving, walking and cycling; travel to work and school)
5.1 Possession of driving licences, and frequency of driving
5.1.1 66% of people aged 17 or over had a full driving licence in 2006: 77% of men but only 58% of women. Since 1999, the proportion of men who have a driving licence has remained around three-quarters, whereas there has been an increase from 52% in 1999 to 58% in 2006 in the percentage of women aged 17+ who have a full driving licence. As a sample survey, the SHS's results are subject to apparent year-to-year fluctuations.
5.1.2 In 2006, 40% of people aged 17+ said that they drove every day, compared with 44% in 1999. However, the percentages who said that they drove "at least 3 times a week (but not every day)" rose from 8% in 1999 to 12% in 2006, and the percentage who drove "once or twice a week" increased from 4% to 7%.
5.2 Frequency of walking and cycling
5.2.1 The SHS interviewer asks adults (people aged 16 or over) on how many of the previous seven days they walked more than a quarter of a mile (a) in order to go somewhere (i.e. used walking as a means of transport), and (b) for pleasure or to keep fit, including walking a dog. In 2006, 53% said they had walked to go somewhere on at least one of the previous seven days. This figure has fluctuated from year to year, presumably due to sampling variability. However, there was an increase in the percentage who said that they had walked for pleasure, to keep fit or to walk a dog - from 40% in 1999 to 47% in 2006.
Figure 7 Traffic (vehicle kilometres)
Figure 8 Road accident casualties
5.2.2 Adults are asked similar questions about cycling. In 2006, about 3% said that they had cycled as a means of transport, and around 4% said that they had cycled for pleasure or to keep fit. These percentages are similar to those found in 1999.
5.3 Travel to work and travel to school
5.3.1 In 2006, about two-thirds of commuters said that they travelled to work by car or van (60% as a driver and 7% as a passenger), 14% walked, 12% went by bus, 4% took a train and 2% cycled. While there have been year-to-year fluctuations in the SHS's results, it appears that, since it started in 1999, the percentage driving to work has risen from about 55% and the percentage getting a lift has fallen from about 12%.
5.3.2 The Labour Force Survey ( LFS) shows that the percentage of people travelling to work who go by car has tended to be slightly lower in Scotland than in Great Britain as a whole, and the percentage using public transport has tended to be slightly higher in Scotland than in Great Britain. According to the LFS, in Autumn 2006, 69% of people travelling to work in Scotland did so by car (compared with 70% for Great Britain) and 17% used public transport (compared with 15% for Great Britain). The year-to-year fluctuations, and any differences from the results of the SHS, are likely to be due to sampling variability.
5.3.3 51% of pupils walked to school in 2006, 24% went by bus, 22% by car, 1% cycled, and 1% went by rail. While there have been year-to-year fluctuations in the results, it appears that, since the SHS started in 1999, the percentage walking to school has fallen from about 55% and the percentage going by car has risen from about 18%.
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