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8 Use of local bus services and train services, frequency of evening travel by bus or train and how safe from crime people would feel then, and possession and use of concessionary fare passes: adults (16+)
8.1 Use of local bus services in the past month
8.1.1 The interviewer asks the randomly selected adult how often he/she has used the local bus service in the past month. Table 12 shows the results. The left-hand part of the first row of the table shows that, in 2006, 56% of adults had not used a local bus service in the previous month, and therefore 44% of adults had: 12% used the bus every day or almost every day, 12% 2 or 3 times a week, 8% about once a week, and 12% once a fortnight or once a month.
8.1.2 Women use local bus services more than men, with 13% of women using a bus service every day or almost every day, compared to 10% of men, and 48% of women having used the bus in the past month, compared to 39% of men (the table shows the percentages who had not used the bus in the past month: 52% for women and 61% for men). The use of local bus services differed among the age groups in that 24% of 16-19 year olds and 18% of 20-29 year olds used the bus every day or almost every day, compared to 8-13% of those aged 30 and above. 74% of 16-19 year olds had used a bus in the previous month, compared to only a third of 40-59 year olds. There is considerable variation in the use of buses with the current situation of the interviewee (only 18% of self-employed people had used a bus in the previous month, compared to 70% of those in higher or further education) and with socio-economic classification ( e.g. 51% of those in semi-routine occupations had used a bus within the last month, compared with only 15% of small employers and sole traders). The middle of Table 12 shows how use of bus services decreases with the net annual income of the household, ranging from 58% of those in "up to £10,000 per annum" households having used a bus in the previous month, to 28% of those in "over £40,000" households.
Chart H: Adults (16+) - who have used a local bus service or a train service in the month prior to interview by sex, age, type of area and frequency of driving
8.1.3 Usage of local bus services also varies between types of area. 57% of adults living in the most deprived 20% of areas in 2006 had used a bus in the month prior to interview, and 21% had used a bus every day or almost every day, compared to 44% who had used a bus, and only 9% who used one every day or almost every day, in the least deprived 20% of areas. 59% of households in large urban areas had used a local bus in the previous month, and 18% had used one every day or almost every day, compared to 20% of those in "remote" rural areas having used a bus, and just 2% using one every day or almost every day. Predictably, the use of buses decreases with increased use of cars. 21% of those who drove every day had used a bus in the previous month, compared to 67-70% of those who never drove.
8.1.4 Chart H illustrates the variation in the use of local bus services by sex, age, urban / rural classification and frequency of driving.
8.1.5 The question about the frequency of use of local bus services was added to the SHS in 2002. Table F shows that, since then, there have been increases in the percentage saying that they used a local bus every day or almost every day (from 10.9% in 2002 to 11.8% in 2006) and using a local bus once or twice a month (from 10.8% to 11.9%). The overall percentage who had used a local bus in the past month has therefore grown from 41.4% to 43.8%. As each of these figures has "95% confidence limits" of about +/- 1.0 percentage-points, the rise is a little larger than might be said to be due to sampling variability.
8.2 Use of train services in the past month
8.2.1 The interviewer asks the randomly selected adult how often he/she used a train service in the past month. The right-hand part of the first row of Table 12 shows that 81% of adults had not used the train in the month prior to interview - so 19% had used a train in the past month. 5% had used the train at least once a week. There was very little variation between the sexes. Use of train services tended to fall with age, from around three-tenths of people aged 16-29 to under a tenth of those aged 70+ having used a train in the past month. 4% of 16-29 year olds used the train every day or almost every day, compared to 1% or less of those over the age of 50. There is a tendency for the use of train services to increase with annual net household income, a different pattern from that for bus usage. For example, 13% of adults in households with an annual net household income of £10,000 or less had used a train in the previous month, compared to 20% in households with between £25,000 and £30,000, and 34% of those in "over £40,000" households. A similar pattern is shown by level of deprivation in the locality in which the respondents live. 26% of those living in the least deprived 20% of areas had used a train service, compared to 16-20% in the other areas.
8.2.2 Chart H illustrates the variation in the use of train services by sex, age, urban / rural classification and frequency of driving.
8.2.3 The question about the frequency of use of train services was added to the SHS in 2002. Table F shows increases at all levels of usage since then, with the result that the overall percentage who had used a train in the past month had grown from 14.5% in 2002 to 19.3% in 2006. As each of these figures has "95% confidence limits" of about +/- 0.7-0.8 percentage-points, the rise is clearly larger than could be due to sampling variability alone.
8.3 Frequency of evening travel by bus "these days", and how safe from crime adults would feel
8.3.1 The interviewer asked the randomly-chosen adult how often her or she travels by bus in the evenings ("say between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m.") "these days", and how safe from crime he/she would feel then. The left hand columns of Table 13 show that only 3% said that they travelled by bus in the evening on "most days", and a further 7% did so "at least once a week"; 76% said that they never travel by bus in the evening. There does not seem to be a significant difference between males and females. The people most likely to travel by bus in the evening on "most days" are the 16-19 year olds (12%), and those in higher/further education (13%). Those most likely "never" to travel by bus in the evenings are 40+ year olds (around four-fifths), those who are self-employed (87%) and those living in "remote" rural areas (89%).
8.3.2 The right hand columns of Table 13 show how safe from crime adults would feel travelling by bus in the evening: 41% would feel "fairly safe" and 14% would feel "very safe", with 21% of males and 9% of females feeling "very safe". However, 8% of adults would feel "not safe at all", and 15% "not particularly safe". Those most likely to feel "very safe" are the 16-29 year olds (19%) and those living in remote rural areas (31%). Those most likely to feel "not safe at all" are 60+ year olds (11-14%), those who are permanently sick or disabled (15%) and those living in the most deprived 20% of areas (15%) or in large urban areas (11%). 33% of those who travelled by bus in the evenings on "most days" said that they would feel "very safe" compared with only 11% of adults who "never" travelled by bus in the evening. The percentages who said that they would not feel safe were higher for those who never travelled by bus in the evening than for those who did do so.
8.3.3 Table G summarises the results for the years for which the questions have been asked (2001 onwards). The frequency of travel does not appear to have altered much (year-to-year fluctuations may be due to sampling variability). The proportion who would feel very safe travelling by bus in the evening has fallen from 21.5% in 2001 to 14.4% in 2006, and the percentage saying "not safe at all" has risen from 6.0% to 8.4% - as each figure has "95% confidence limits" of about +/- 0.4-0.8 percentage-points, these changes are larger than could be due to sampling variability alone.
8.4 Frequency of evening travel by train "these days", and how safe from crime adults would feel
8.4.1 The interviewer asked the randomly-chosen adult how often he/she travels by train in the evening ("say 7-10 p.m.") "these days", and how safe from crime he/she would feel then. The left hand columns of Table 14 show that only 1% said that they travelled by train in the evening on "most days", and a further 2% did so "at least once a week"; 82% said that they never travel by train in the evening. There does not seem to be a significant difference between males and females. The people most likely to travel by train in the evening at least once a week (including "most days") are the 16-19 year olds (9%), and those in higher/further education (8%). Those most likely "never" to travel by train in the evenings are 70+ year olds (90-95%), those who are looking after home/family, permanently retired, or permanently sick or disabled (88-90%), and those living "remote" rural areas (92%).
8.4.2 The right hand columns of Table 14 show how safe from crime adults would feel travelling by train in the evening: 36% would feel "fairly safe" and 11% would feel "very safe", with 18% of males and 6% of females feeling "very safe". However, 9% of adults said that they would feel "not safe at all", and 14% "not particularly safe". The people most likely to feel "very safe" are the 16-19 year olds (18%) and those living in remote small towns or remote rural areas (20%). Those most likely to feel "not safe at all" are 60+ year olds (11-14%), those who are permanently sick or disabled (16%) and those living in the most deprived 20% of areas (15%) or in large urban areas (11%). 48% of those who travelled by train in the evenings on "most days" said that they would feel "very safe" compared with only 9% of adults who "never" travelled by train in the evening, although the first percentage is based upon a very small sample size and so should be used with caution.
8.4.3 Table H summarises the results for the years the questions have been asked. As for buses, the frequency of travel does not appear to have altered much over the years (apparent year-to-year fluctuations could be due to sampling variability). The proportion of those who would feel "very safe" travelling by train in the evening has fallen from 16.5% in 2001 to 11.3% in 2006, and the percentage who would feel "not safe at all" has fluctuated while rising from 7.2% to 8.7%. As each figure has "95% confidence limits" of about +/- 0.5-0.7 percentage-points, the first change is much larger, and the second a little larger, than might be thought due to sampling variability alone.
8.5 Possession and use (in the past month) of concessionary fare passes
8.5.1 The randomly selected adult is asked if he/she has a concessionary travel pass which allows travel free of charge on scheduled bus services. (This is the basis of the national concessionary fares scheme that has applied with effect from 1st April 2006.) Those who held such a pass were asked how often they used their pass. Because the new scheme was introduced during 2006, Table 15 is based on the results of interviews which were conducted in April onwards. The upper part of the table shows that, in that period, 27% of adults held a concessionary travel pass. Possession of such a pass was linked to age, as is shown in Chart I; 2-4% of those under 50 had a pass, compared with 6% of those in their 50s, 76% of those aged 60-64, and 83-90% of those aged 65 and over.
8.5.2 The lower part of Table 15 shows possession and use of concessionary travel passes for those aged 60 and over. 84% of 60+s held a pass; 81% of men and 86% of women. Only 68% of employed 60+s had a pass, compared to 86% of those who were permanently retired from work, and 78% of 60+s who were permanently sick or disabled. Concessionary travel pass possession varied with income; 85-86% of 60+s living in households with an annual net income of under £20,000 had a pass, compared to 75% of those in "over £20,000" households. 86-89% of 60+s in urban areas held a pass, compared with 67% in "remote" rural areas. 77% of 60+s who drove every day had a concessionary travel pass, compared with 87% of those without a driving licence.
8.5.3 The 84% of people aged 60 and over who held a concessionary travel pass comprised 4% who, in the past month, had used it every day, 9% almost every day, 18% two or three times per week, 9% once a week, 5% once a fortnight, 9% once a month, and 29% who had not used it in the past month. Overall, about 40% of 60+s had used a pass at least once a week in the past month: about 47% for women compared to around 34% for men. Those who were permanently retired from work were more likely to have used their pass at least once a week than employed 60+s (about 44% vs. around 27%). Adults aged 60+ who lived in households with an annual net income of less than £10,000 were much more likely to have used their pass at least once a week (about 47%) than those in "over £20,000" households (around 26%). 52% of 60+s in large urban areas had used their pass at least once a week, compared to 12% in "remote" rural areas. As would be expected, concessionary travel pass usage varied with frequency of driving: the pass was used at least once a week by about 21% of 60+s who drove every day, around 32% of those who drove at least once a week (but not every day), and roughly 55% of those with no driving licence.
Chart I - Possession and Use of concessionary travel pass - by age
8.5.4 Table I shows that the percentage of people aged 60+ holding a pass increased from 76.6% in 2003 to 83.8% in 2006, with particularly rapid growth in the figure for 60-64 year olds (which rose from 62.0% to 76.5%). These increases are much greater than might be expected to arise as a result of sampling variability.
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