« Previous | Contents | Next »
Listen
1. Main points
1.1 In 2006, over 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, 3% took a train, 2% cycled and 2% used other modes of transport. 65% of men drove to work compared to 56% of women; proportionately more women walked or went by bus than men (paragraph 11.3.1). Commuting by car rose with the annual net income of the household, from 45% for commuters from "up to £10,000" households to 80% for those from "over £40,000" households (paragraph 11.3.3). Car commuters were the least likely to change their usual mode of travel to work (paragraph 11.4.1).
1.2 Since the survey started, the percentage driving to work has risen (from 54.7% in 1999 to 60.2% in 2006), the percentage getting a lift has fallen (from 11.8% to 7.0%), and there has been little change in the use of other modes of transport (paragraph 11.3.6).
1.3 10.9% of employed adults worked at or from home in 2006. There have been increases in most years since the survey started in 1999, when only 7.5% did so (paragraph 11.2.3).
1.4 Walking was reported to be the usual method of travel to school in 2006 for 51% of pupils, 24% were said to go by bus (17% by school bus and 7% by ordinary bus), 22% went by car (or van), and only 1% cycled to school (paragraph 12.1.2). 59% of primary school age pupils walked, as did 42% of secondary school age pupils (paragraph 12.1.3). 29% of children from households with an annual net income of over £40,000 travelled by car, compared with only 12% of those from "up to £10,000" households (paragraph 12.1.5). It was reported that 35% of pupils who travelled to school by car could use public transport (paragraph 12.2.2): the main reasons identified for not doing so were "prefer to use a car" (40% of them), "inconvenient" (38%) and "too young to travel on own" (36%) (paragraph 12.2.3).
1.5 Since 1999, the percentage walking to school has fallen (from 54.7% to 51.3% in 2006), the percentage going by car has risen (from 18.3% to 21.5%) and there has been little change in the use of the other modes of transport (paragraph 12.1.7).
1.6 In 2006, over two-thirds (68%) of households had one or more cars (paragraph 3.1.1). Car availability rose with income, from 38% of households with an annual net income of up to £10,000 to 99% of those with an annual net income of over £40,000 (paragraph 3.1.2). Only 42% of households in the most deprived 20% of areas of Scotland had access to a car compared with 85% in the least deprived 20% of areas . 57% of households in large urban areas had a car, compared with 85-87% of those in "rural" areas (paragraph 3.1.3).
1.7 Between 1999 and 2006, there were rises in the percentages of households with one or more cars (from 62.9% to 67.9%) and two or more cars (from 17.8% to 24.1%) (paragraph 3.1.4).
1.8 Almost two thirds (66%) of people aged 17+ said they had a full driving licence in 2006 (paragraph 4.2.1): 77% of men compared with 58% of women (paragraph 4.2.2); and 79% of 40-49 year olds (paragraph 4.2.1). 40% of people aged 17+ were said to drive every day (paragraph 4.3.1): 48% of men compared with 34% of women. 55% of people aged between 40 and 49 drove every day (paragraph 4.3.2).
1.9 The percentage of men aged 17+ with a full driving licence fluctuated in the range 75% to 77% throughout the period from 1999 and 2006, whereas the corresponding figure for women rose from 51.9% to 57.9% (paragraph 4.2.4).
1.10 90% of the drivers who shopped at a supermarket always used a car to do so, as did 69% of the drivers who visited friends or relatives, in contrast to about half of the drivers who went on evenings out for leisure purposes, shopped for small amounts of food or went to the library (paragraph 5.2.1). Of seven different types of journey, the percentage of the drivers who always used a car who would find it easy to use another means of transport was highest for shopping for small amounts of food (49%), and lowest for supermarket shopping (18%), visiting friends or relatives (19%), and evenings out for leisure purposes (22%) (paragraph 5.3.2).
1.11 44% of adults had used a local bus service in the month prior to the interview (paragraph 8.1.1). 13% of women and 10% of men used the bus every day or almost every day, as did 24% of 16-19 year olds but only 8-13% of people aged 30+ (paragraph 8.1.2), and 18% of adults living in large urban areas compared with just 2% of residents in "remote" rural areas (paragraph 8.1.3). The percentage of adults who had used a local bus in the past month rose from 41.4% in 2002 to 43.8% in 2006 (paragraph 8.1.5).
1.12 In 2006, 19% of adults had used a train in the past month . 13% of adults in households with an annual net income of under £10,000 had used a train in the past month, compared with 34% in "over £40,000" households (paragraph 8.2.1). The percentage of adults who had used a train in the past month rose from 14.5% in 2002 to 19.3% in 2006 (paragraph 8.2.3).
1.13 14% of adults said that they would feel "very safe", and 41% would feel "fairly safe", when travelling by bus in the evening. 33% of those who used evening buses on "most days" said that they would feel "very safe" compared with only 11% of adults who never travelled by bus in the evening. However, 8% of adults said that they would feel "not safe at all", and 15% would feel "not particularly safe - these percentages were higher for those who never used evening buses than for those who did do so (paragraph 8.3.2). The percentage of adults who would feel "very safe" travelling by bus in the evening fell from 21.5% in 2001 to 14.4% in 2006 (paragraph 8.3.3). For train travel in the evening, 11% of adults said that they would feel "very safe", 36% "fairly safe", 9% "not safe at all" and 14% "not particularly safe" (paragraph 8.4.2), and the percentage who would feel "very safe" fell from 16.5% in 2001 to 11.3% in 2006 (paragraph 8.4.3).
1.14 In 2006, 47% of adults said that they had made a trip of more than a quarter of a mile by foot for pleasure or to keep fit (including walking a dog) in the previous seven days: 49% of men and 45% of women (paragraph 9.2.3). Between 1999 and 2006, the percentage of adults who said that they walked for pleasure or to keep fit rose from 39.7% to 46.6% (paragraph 9.2.5). Only 4% of adults said that they had cycled for pleasure or to keep fit in the previous seven days: 6% of men and 3% of women (paragraph 9.3.2).
1.15 84% of adults aged 60+ held a concessionary travel pass: 81% of men compared to 86% of women (paragraph 8.5.2). About 40% of adults aged 60+ used such a pass at least once a week: 47% of women and 34% of men (paragraph 8.5.3). The percentage of people aged 60+ holding a pass increased from 76.6% in 2003 to 83.8% in 2006, with a particularly large increase for 60-64 year olds: from 62.0% to 76.5% (paragraph 8.5.4).
1.16 85% of all households were said to be up to 6 minutes walk away from a bus stop. Overall, 23% of householders said that there were at least five buses every hour: 44% of households in large urban areas; 1% or less in rural areas and "remote" small towns (paragraph 3.2.1). Bus service frequencies may have improved since the survey started, as the percentage of householders saying there were at least five buses per hour rose from 19.7% in 1999 to 22.7% in 2006 (paragraph 3.2.2).
1.17 About a third of households (35%) had one or more bicycles that adults could use. It varied with annual net household income: from 15% of households with up to £10,000 per year to 72% of those with over £40,000 (paragraph 3.3.1). There has been little change since 2000.
1.18 19% of adults had used a road map to plan a journey by car, van, motorcycle or bicycle in the previous month, 11% had used route planning software or an internet journey planner, and 8% had asked a friend (paragraph 7.2.1). For planning journeys by public transport in the month prior to the interview, 8% of adults had used a timetable displayed at a station or a bus stop, 6% had accessed the internet, and 5% had used a timetable delivered through the door or picked up at a station (paragraph 7.3.1).
1.19 17% of adults had heard of Traveline Scotland, and 5% said that they had used it: 7% of 16-29 year olds had used the service, compared with 6% of 30-49 year olds, 3% of 50-69 year olds and only 1% of those aged over 70 (paragraph 7.4.2).
1.20 In 2006, 11% of adults said that they had a long-standing illness, health problem or disability and had difficulty with one or more of a number of transport-related activities, such as walking for at least 10 minutes or using a bus (paragraph 13.2). This increased to 18% of those aged 60-69, 24% of 70-79 year olds, and 38% of people aged 80 and over (paragraph 13.3). 6% of adults held a Blue Badge - again, a figure which increased markedly with age (paragraph 13.5).
1.21 Average expenditure on fuel for cars tended to rise steadily with annual net household income, and was highest for households in "accessible" rural areas (paragraph 6.1.3).
1.22 Over a third of adults who had been injured in a road accident said that it had not been reported to the police (paragraph 10.3).
« Previous | Contents | Next »