| 3.
Commentary |
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| 3.1
Basic travel statistics (Table A; charts 1,2) |
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| 3.1.1
The National Travel Survey results for 1995/97 suggest
that an average Scottish resident travelled around 6,700
miles per year (or about 18 miles per day) within Great
Britain. This is much more than ten or twenty years
earlier: since 1975/76, this average has risen by over
2,500 miles (60%), with an increase of almost 2,100 miles
(44%) since 1985/86. |
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| 3.1.2
There was less rapid growth in the number of journeys
made per person, which rose by 16% from an average of
just under 900 per year (or 2.4 per day) in 1975/76 to
over 1,000 per year (2.8 per day) in 1995/97. The
principal cause of the increase in the average distance
travelled was a rise of 38% in the average length of a
journey, from 4.7 miles in 1975/76 to 6.5 miles in
1995/97. Over the same period, the per capita average
time spent travelling increased by 21% from 289 hours per
year (or 48 minutes per day) to 350 hours per year (58
minutes per day). In consequence, throughout the period,
the average duration of a journey did not change much,
remaining around 20 minutes, while the average speed
increased from under 15 miles per hour to over 19 miles
per hour. |
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| 3.1.3
The main reasons for the increase in travel are that
there are more cars, and more people able to drive them.
Since 1975/76 the number of cars and other vehicles
available (per 100 Scottish households) has risen by 62%,
from 52 to 84 vehicles per 100 households (at a time of
falling household sizes). At the same time, the
percentage of the adult population qualified to drive
them has increased: in 1995/97, about 77% of men and 51%
of women held a full car driving licence - considerably
more than the 66% of men and 24% of women in 1975/76. The
rate of growth was much higher for women than for men,
and the potential for further increases is much greater
for women than for men. It should also be noted that the
percentages of the adult population who were qualified to
drive in 1995/97 were a little lower in Scotland (77% of
men and 51% of women) than in Great Britain as a whole
(81% of men and 57% of women). |
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| 3.1.4
Finally, it would appear that, on average, people who
have cars are not making greater use of them: the average
annual mileage per car has not changed much, remaining at
slightly over 10,000 miles per year since 1985/86 (no
corresponding figure is available for 1975/76). |
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| 3.2
Average distance travelled per person per year by mode of
travel (Table B) |
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| 3.2.1
When the 1995/97 average of over 6,700 miles travelled
per person per year is broken down between the different
modes of travel, it is seen that almost half the total
distance (48%: 3,200 miles) was travelled as the driver
of a car or a van or a lorry. (The base for all the
"per person" averages is the whole population,
including non-drivers: the average distance travelled as
a driver would be much higher for those who can drive.) A
further 30% (2,000 miles) was travelled as a passenger in
a car (henceforth, references to "car" should
be taken as also referring to vans and lorries). So, cars
accounted for over three quarters (78%: 5,200 miles) of
the total distance travelled per person. No other mode of
travel accounted for more than 10%: "local bus"
had the next highest share, with 6% (400 miles). Surface
rail accounted for just 4% (under 250 miles) and
"other public transport" (which includes air)
for 5% (about 350 miles). Walking accounted for only 3%
(200 miles), and cycling for only 0.4% (24 miles per
person per year). |
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| 3.2.2
Cars accounted for 95% of the increase of almost 2,100
miles since 1985/86 in the average distance travelled per
person per year. The average distance travelled per
person as a driver rose by nearly 1,300 miles, and that
as a passenger by approaching 700 miles. As a result, the
car's share of the total distance travelled rose from 70%
to 78%. Over the same period, there were falls in the
average distances walked (from almost 290 miles to just
under 210 miles) and travelled in non-local buses (from
about 170 miles to around 90 miles); at the same time
there was rapid growth in "other public
transport", which includes air, which rose from
about 50 miles to an estimated 350 miles. There was
little overall change for the other modes of travel: some
of the apparent changes, such as the fluctuations in the
figures for rail, could be due to sampling variability
(the inclusion, by random chance, of more rail users - or
of people who make greater use of rail - in the sample in
some years than in other years) rather than any real
change in travel patterns (over the same period, total
Scottish rail passenger numbers have been much more
stable than the NTS estimates). |
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| 3.3
Journeys per person per year, Average distance travelled
per person per year, and Average length of journey - all
by main mode of travel (Table C, Table D, Table E; charts 3,4) |
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| 3.3.1
In the case of a journey with more than one stage (eg by
bus to a station, then by train to - say - Manchester),
Table B's figures are based upon counting separately the
distance for each mode of travel used for each stage of
the journey. However, the other analyses of
"mode" in this bulletin use the main
mode of travel for the journey as a whole (in the
example given, this would be 'rail'). Hence, the
distances shown for each mode of travel in Table B may
differ slightly from those shown for each main mode of
travel in Table D and some other tables. In addition, it
should be noted that (for reasons given in paragraph
4.2.5) the modes that are shown may differ between
tables: for example, "private hire bus" and
"non-local bus" appear as separate modes of
travel in Table B but are included in the
"other..." categories in other tables. |
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| 3.3.2
In 1995/97, on average, over 1,000 journeys were made per
person per year (Table C). Cars were the main mode
of travel for over half of them (58%), with 36% (371)
made as a driver and 22% (228) made as a passenger. The
car's 58% share of the number of journeys is less than
its 77% share of the distance travelled (Table D)
because many short journeys are made by foot: the average
of 303 walking journeys per person per year represents
29% of all journeys (Table C), but walking only
accounts for 3% of the distance travelled (Table D).
|
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| 3.3.3
Table C shows that the overall average number of
journeys made per person per year did not change greatly
between 1985/86 and 1995/97, rising only by 6%. However,
there were large increases in the average numbers of
journeys per person made mainly by car, with 'driver'
journeys rising by 63% and 'passenger' journeys up by
46%. At the same time, the average numbers of journeys
per person made mainly by foot or by local bus fell, in
both cases by 28%. |
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| 3.3.4
The average distances travelled per person per year by main
mode of travel are shown in Table D. The main
trends are very similar to those shown in Table B and
described in section 3.2: there are large rises for 'car
driver' and 'car passenger', and a large fall for 'walk'.
The fall for 'local bus' (5%) contrasts with the 28% drop
in journeys shown in Table C: it seems that the
average length of local bus journeys has increased (see Table
E) from under 4 miles in 1985/86 to 5 miles in
1995/97. Over the same period, there has been little
change in the average lengths of car journeys (around 8-
miles) and of walking journeys (about - mile). Rail
journeys average around 30 miles. |
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| 3.4
Journeys per person per year by purpose and by main mode
of travel (Table F) |
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| 3.4.1
Shopping was the most frequent purpose of travel in
1995/97, accounting for 22% of journeys (222 out of the
average of 1,028 journeys per person per year). The other
main purposes of travel were "commuting or
business" (20%), "other personal business
..." (18%) and "visiting friends (at home or
elsewhere)" (17%). "Other personal
business..." includes (eg) journeys to the doctor,
hairdresser, library and church, and escort journeys
other than escorting someone to a place of education. In
travel terms these journeys are, in some ways, similar to
"shopping" journeys: for example, often
involving short journeys to local destinations that are
near shops (indeed, some shopping might be done as part
of a journey to, say, a library). |
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| 3.4.2
In 1995/97, 58% of commuting or business journeys (117
out of 203) were made as a car driver. The other most
often used means of travel for commuting or business
purposes were as a passenger in a car (14%), walking
(13%) and local bus (10%). Just over half of journeys to
education (51%: 37 out of 73) were on foot, and almost a
quarter (23%) were made as a passenger in a car. In the
case of "escort education" journeys, in
1995/97, just over half (51%: 19 out of 37) were made as
a car driver, and these represented 5% of all journeys
made as a car driver (19 out of 371). Slightly over half
(52%) of shopping journeys were made by car: 32% (70 out
of 222) as a driver and 20% as a passenger. Over a third
(35%) of journeys to the shops were made on foot, and 11%
using a local bus. |
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| 3.5
Average distance travelled per person per year by purpose
and by main mode (Table G) |
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| 3.5.1
Commuting or business purposes accounted for the largest
single proportion of travel in 1995/97: 29% of the total
(1,968 miles out of the average of 6,719 miles travelled
per person per year), followed by visiting friends at
home or elsewhere (20%). Shopping and "other
personal business..." each accounted for 14% of the
distance travelled, and holidays and day trips accounted
for a further 12%. |
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| 3.5.2
Two-fifths (40%) of the total distance travelled as a car
driver was for commuting or business purposes (1,286
miles out of 3,214 miles), and a further 17% was in order
to visit friends, 13% for shopping and 16% for
"other personal business ...". |
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| 3.6
Trends in Journeys per person per year, Average distance
travelled per person per year, and Average length of
journey - all by purpose of travel (Table H, Table I, Table J) |
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| 3.6.1
Table H shows that, between 1985/86 and 1995/97,
the average number of journeys per person per year
increased by 56 (6%). The purposes for which there were
the largest increases in the average numbers of journeys
were shopping (up 33 or 17%), "other personal
business ...." (up 27 or 17%) and escort to
education (up 21, and more than doubling). There was a
smaller fall in the number of commuting journeys, which
was mainly balanced by an increase in the number of
journeys for business purposes. (NB: the NTS's
"business" journeys include travel to or from
their work by people who have no usual place of work, or
who work from home - see paragraph 4.4.3.) Sampling
variability may have exaggerated the fall in the average
number of journeys to a place of education: a 28%
reduction from 102 to 73 is unlikely (over the same
period, the NTS's figures for Great Britain show only a
12% decline, from 77 to 68). |
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| 3.6.2
The average distance travelled per person per year
increased by 44% between 1985/86 and 1995/97, from under
4,700 miles to over 6,700 miles (Table I). The
main reasons for this were the rises in the average
distances travelled per head for "other personal
business" (up 414 miles or 78%), visiting friends at
home (up 389 miles or 51%), shopping (up 378 miles or
70%), commuting (up 319 miles or 33%) and holidays and
day trips (up 268 miles or 48%). |
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| 3.6.3
The average journey length rose from 4.8 miles in 1985/86
to 6.5 miles in 1995/97 (Table J), with increases
in the length of journey for almost every purpose. For
example, the average length of commuting journeys rose
from 5.4 miles to 7.8 miles, and for shopping journeys
the increase was from 2.9 miles to 4.1 miles. |
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| 3.7
Journeys per person per year by distance and by main mode
of travel (Table K, Table L) |
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| 3.7.1
Table K shows that, in 1995/97, over a quarter of
all journeys were of under a mile (28%: 288 of the
average of 1,028 per person per year), 17% were of at
least 1 mile but under 2 miles in length, and 25% were at
least 2 but under 5 miles. So, in total, 70% of all
journeys were under 5 miles in length. Only 5% of
journeys involved a distance of 25 miles or over |
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| 3.7.2
Almost four-fifths of walking journeys were under a mile
in length (79%: 240 out of 303). About 7-8% of car
journeys involved a distance less than a mile, and a
further 17-18% were at least 1 mile but under 2 miles, so
a total of about a quarter of all car journeys were under
2 miles in length. |
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| 3.7.3
Since 1985/86, there has been a fall in the number of
journeys of under a mile in length, little change in the
number of 1-2 mile journeys, and the numbers of journeys
involving longer distances have risen (Table L). |
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| 3.8
Journeys per person per year by purpose and by age and
then sex (Table M, Table N; chart 5) |
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| 3.8.1
Overall, in 1995/97, the average number of journeys per
person per year was 1,028. Table M shows that, on
average, people aged 60+ travelled less often: their
average was 815 journeys each, 21% fewer. Children also
made fewer journeys (914 each per year; 11% below the
average); people aged 30-59 made the most journeys (1,183
each, 15% more than the average). Men made an average of
6% more journeys than women. |
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| 3.8.2
As would be expected, there were considerable differences
between the age-groups and between the sexes in the
purposes for which journeys were made. For children,
education was the most frequent purpose, accounting for
29% of their journeys (261 out of the average of 914
journeys per child per year). The main purpose of travel
for those aged 16-29, and for those aged 30-59, was
commuting or business: for both age-groups, it accounted
for 28% of their journeys. Shopping was the main purpose
of travel for those aged 60+, accounting for 35% of
journeys (283 out of 815). For men, commuting or business
was the purpose of 29% of journeys (320 out of 1,090);
for women, it was only 19% (195 out of 1,033). For women,
the most frequent purpose was shopping, accounting for
27% of journeys (281 out of 1,033); for men, it was only
20% (217 out of 1,090). |
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| 3.8.3
Table N shows that, from 1985/86 to 1995/97, on
average, men have consistently made more journeys per
person per year than women. The overall rise in the
number of journeys per year appears to be due to
increased travel by people aged 30+. |
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| 3.9
Distance travelled per person per year by main mode and
by age and then by sex (Table O, Table P) |
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| 3.9.1
The differences between the age-groups and the sexes are
greater when one looks at the average distances travelled
per person per year (Table O). Overall, in
1995/97, the average distance travelled per person per
year was just over 6,700 miles. On average, people aged
60+ travelled around 4,800 miles per person per year (28%
less). Children averaged under 3,600 miles each per year,
47% below the average. People aged 30-59 travelled
furthest: an average of almost 9,100 miles each per year,
35% more than the average. The difference between the
sexes was marked: the men's average of almost 9,200 miles
per year was 48% above the women's average of under 6,200
miles. |
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| 3.9.2
There were considerable differences between the sexes in
the modes of travel which were used. made. Car driver was
the main one for men, accounting for 68% of the distance
they travelled (6,226 miles out of their average of 9,182
miles per man per year), whereas for women only 36% of
their travel was as a car driver (averaging 2,230 miles
out of 6,193 miles). Women travelled further as
passengers in cars (38%: 2,360 miles out of 6,193),
whereas only 12% of men's travel was as a car passenger
(1,076 miles out of 9,182). Women averaged 568 miles each
by local bus; men only 325. Looking now at the figures
for the age-groups, as children are not car drivers, 78%
of their travel was as a passenger in a car. On average,
people aged 30-59 travel further as drivers of cars, and
less by local bus, than those aged 16-29 and those aged
60+. |
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| 3.9.3
Table P shows that the average distance travelled
per person in 1995/97 was higher than in 1985/86 for each
age-group and for each sex, with apparently greater
percentage increases for women than for men, perhaps
reflecting the more rapid growth for women than men in
the percentage of adults who have a full car driving
licence. The percentage rise was also greater for those
aged 60+ than for those in other age-groups. |
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| 3.10
Journeys per person per year by main mode and by (GB)
household income quintile (Table Q; chart 5) |
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| 3.10.1
The basis of the (GB) household income quintile groups is
described in paragraph 4.6.2. In 1995/97, there was a
clear tendency for the average number of journeys per
person per year to increase with the level of the
household income: people in the highest quintile
household income group averaged almost 1,200 journeys per
year, 16% more than the overall average of slightly over
1,000; people in the lowest quintile household income
group averaged about 850 journeys per year, 17% below the
overall average. The number of journeys made as a car
driver increased sharply with household income: those in
the highest band averaged around 550 such journeys,
whereas those in the lowest band averaged under 200.
People in the lowest household income band made more
journeys on foot, and more journeys by local bus, than
those in the highest income band |
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| 3.11
Journeys per person per year by main mode and by access
to household car (Table R; chart 5) |
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| 3.11.1
As would be expected, in 1995/97, the average number of
journeys per person per year to varied considerably with
the availability of a household car (if any). People in
households with cars averaged over 1,100 journeys per
year, 10% more than the overall average of slightly over
1,000; people in households without a car averaged under
800 journeys per year, 24% below the overall average. In
households which had cars, the average for people who
were the "main" drivers of cars (see paragraph
4.6.6) was over 1,300 journeys, compared with just over
900 for non-drivers (including children). People in
households without a car averaged almost twice as many
journeys by foot, and more than four times as many
journeys by local bus, as those in households with cars. |
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| 3.12
Journeys per person per year by purpose and by working
status (Table S; chart 5) |
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| 3.12.1
On average, people who were working made more journeys in
1995/97 than those who were not working. People who were
working part-time averaged almost 1,300 journeys each per
year (25% more than the overall average), and those
working full-time averaged nearly 1,200 journeys per year
(16% above the average). Retired people averaged under
800 journeys each per year: 24% below the average. As
would be expected, there was considerable variation
between the groups in the reasons for their travel: for
example "commuting or business" was the single
most frequent purpose of travel for those who were
working, and "shopping" was the main purpose of
travel by retired people. |
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| 3.13
Average distance travelled per person per year by main
mode and by socio-economic group (Table T) |
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| 3.13.1
The average distance travelled per person per year varied
greatly with the socio-economic group of the head of the
household. In 1995/97, people in households headed by a
professional person or a manager averaged over 10,000
miles each per year (50% more than the overall average of
6,700 miles per head) whereas people in households headed
by someone who was retired, or otherwise economically
inactive, tended to travel much less: for example, those
in households headed by a retired person averaged only
4,300 miles each per year (35% below the average). The
differences between the socio-economic groups were
greatest for the average distance travelled per person as
a driver: this averaged over 4,000 miles per year for
people in households headed by a non-manual worker, or by
a skilled manual worker; and under 2,000 miles per year
in all other households. |
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