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4. How are people travelling?
The percentage of journeys by foot has decreased since 1999 whereas the percentage of journeys as a driver has increased since 1999.
Figure 5: Mode of journey 2005/2006
Gender and Age
4.1 Car and van journeys represented 70 per cent of all journeys in 2005/2006, with 55 per cent of all journeys as a driver. This varied significantly with gender; women were twice as likely to be a passenger than their male counterparts (20 per cent and 9 per cent, respectively). Men reported driving as their main mode for almost two-thirds of all male journeys (64 per cent) compared to only 48 per cent of female journeys. Women were also more likely to travel by bus, with 13 per cent of all female journeys by this mode compared to only 9 per cent of male journeys. [ Table 13, Figure 6]
Figure 6: Differences between the genders, 2005/2006
4.2 Walking as the main mode of transport has continued to decline, showing a significant drop of 6 percentage points since 1999. Unsurprisingly the percentage of people reporting driving as their main mode has significantly increased by a similar amount (5 percentage points). Bus journeys also showed a small but significant increase as the main mode of transport [Figure 7]. Rail, car passenger and bicycle journeys showed little significant variation over the eight year period. [ Table 1]
Figure 7: Changes in bus, walking and passenger journeys, 1999-2006
4.3 The number of journeys as a driver correlated with age, adults under 20 and those over 80 reported the smallest fraction of driver journeys. As age increased (i.e. between 30 and 69) the car was the preferred mode of transport. [Figure 8]
Figure 8: Journeys reported by adults (16+) - main mode of travel by age, 2005/2006
Income and Employment
4.4 Respondents who were self-employed were more likely to journey by car (80 per cent than other employed respondents (65 per cent and 58 per cent for full-time and part-time employed, respectively). Conversely unemployed respondents were most likely to journey on foot (33 per cent) or by bus (17 per cent). [ Table 13]
4.5 The choice of main transport method was linked to annual net household income. Around 43 per cent of all journeys by low income households (up to £10,000 p.a.) were by foot or bus, which was almost four times higher than those from high income households (11 per cent for over £40,000 p.a.). In fact the percentage of respondents reporting walking or bus journeys steadily decreased as net household income increased. This was mirrored in car usage but the percentage of car passenger journeys was not strongly dependent on income.
Area Type
4.6 As the SIMD quintiles decreased (indicating a more deprived area) the percentage of driver journeys decreased, and the percentage of walking and bus journeys decreased. However, the trend was not as prominent as it was with income.
4.7 Respondents in rural areas reported the largest proportion of journeys by car (86 per cent). Respondents in large urban areas reported the largest proportion of journeys by bus. This was probably linked to both deprivation in urban areas and the fact that large urban areas, in general, have good public transport links.
Car Access and Ownership
4.8 The number of cars available to a household also had a direct impact on the transport choice of adults in the sample. Respondents with no access to a car reported only 2 per cent of journeys by car, 33 per cent on foot and 36 per cent by bus. However, respondents with access to two or more cars, reported three quarters of all journeys by car, and only 6 per cent by foot and 3 per cent by bus.
4.9 The average occupancy of car/van journeys has significantly decreased since 1999 [ Table 7], however this seems to have stabilised at 1.6 since 2005. The average occupancy was not dependent on gender or income. Interestingly the average dropped to around 1.2 for commuting and business journeys. Journeys starting before 7am also demonstrated a small occupancy average (1.3) [ Table 23]. This is consistent with the fact that 9 per cent of all commuting journeys began before 7am. [ Table 21]
Figure 9: Main method by distance, (a) journeys 10 km or less and (b) over 10 km, 2005/2006
Distance
4.10 Shorter journeys (those 10 km or less) showed a different mode distribution to those over 10km. Sustainable methods of transport (walking, cycling, bus and rail) accounted for around a third of all shorter journeys compared to only 13 per cent for longer journeys. [Figure 9]
4.11 The majority of journeys by foot were less than 2 km (84 per cent). However, there were a large proportion of journeys by car (both as a passenger and as a driver) that were less than 2 km. [ Table 17, Table 19]
4.12 The average distance travelled at Scotland level was 11 km but half of all journeys were 4 km or less (median). Considering all driver car journeys, the average was found to be 13 km but half of all journeys were less than 6 km. In all modes the median was significantly less than the average [ Table 19]. This suggests that independent of mode, there are a large proportion of short distance trips. Although this is not a problem with more sustainable forms of transport (e.g. bicycle, walking and bus) this does represent an issue for car journeys. However, the percentage of short distance (under 2 km) journeys has significantly decreased since 1999. [ Table 3]
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