Scottish Household Survey Quarterly Bulletin No.1

3 Transport

The transport-related information collected by the survey includes basic details about motor vehicles available to households in the sample, whether each household member holds a full driving licence, and information about their reasons for and frequency of driving. Details such as 'previous day' journeys made by individuals and the frequency of cycling and walking for pleasure are also collected.

Sixty-two per cent of all Scottish households have access to at least one car or motor vehicle, including 17% who have access to two vehicles and 3% to three or more. An alternative way of looking at this is in terms of adults per vehicle within households. Among all households with regular access to a motor vehicle, the average number of adults per vehicle is 1.7 (no table).

As Table 6 shows, the availability of motor vehicles is strongly related to household income. While over half of those in the lowest income bracket did not have access to a motor vehicle, the same was true for less than one in ten of households with an annual net income of £20,000 or more.

Source: Scottish Household Survey (Feb-Mar, 1999).
Note: Sample size reduced by refusals on income questions.

Among household members aged 17 and over, 64% currently hold a full UK driving licence (Table 7). However, there are large differences between the sexes and age groups. While 77% of men currently hold a licence, the same is true of only 52% of women. Among those over the age of 60, the gender difference is even more pronounced - between the ages of 60 and 74, 80% of men hold a licence, compared with just 34% of women; among those aged 75 and over, the corresponding figures are 67% and 17%. Males aged between 35 and 44 are the group most likely to hold a licence, with 85% doing so.

Source: Scottish Household Survey (Feb-Mar, 1999).
Note: Sample size reduced by exclusion of 16 year-olds.

In terms of frequency of driving, more than two-thirds of licence holders (70%) drive 'every day', while a further fifth (19%) drive at least once a week (no table). Only one in ten drive either less than once a month (3%) or never (7%). This figure is, of course, higher among older people - 11% of licence holders aged 60-74 and 24% of those over 75 never use their licence (no table).

The survey also collects information about the travel patterns of the Scottish population. For example, it provides the modes of travel to work for a representative sample of adults, and to school for a representative sample of children. As Table 8 shows, almost half of adults in employment or full-time education drive to their place of work or study (as many as 61% if passengers in a car/van are also included). Indeed, only two other forms of transport are used by more than one commuter in ten - 17% walk to their place of work or study, and 14% travel by bus. Only one person in a hundred cycles to work - though this may be due to the fieldwork for the survey being carried out in February and March. It remains to be seen whether future months will show similar results.

By far the most common mode of travel to school is walking (57%), followed by passenger in a car/van (16%) or school bus (16%). It is striking that less than one child in a hundred cycles to school (less than the proportion of adults who cycle to their place of work or study) - though, again, there may be a seasonal effect here.

Source: Scottish Household Survey (Feb-Mar, 1999).