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1. Introduction
1.1 The tables that follow provide a summary of the trends in passenger and freight transport, and some other vehicle related statistics, since 1960 in some cases. The series are repeated in index form to facilitate comparison of the trends for the different modes.
1.2 The main changes to this section are:
2. Passenger traffic - main points
2.1 Although the volume of car traffic on major roads (Motorways and A roads) has more than doubled, from an estimated 9,300 million vehicle kilometres in 1975 to almost 20,000 million vehicle kilometres in 2000, it has remained fairly level over the past 5 years. Figure H1 shows that the main rise was between 1983 and 1995. (Table H1)
2.2 The number of passenger journeys on local bus services has more than halved, from 891 million in 1975 to 431 million in 1999-00. There were falls in every year since 1960 apart from 1985, 1987, 1988 and 1999. Despite this, local bus passenger numbers are still far greater than rail, air or ferry passenger numbers. (Table H1)
2.3 The number of rail passenger journeys fell from a peak of 73 million in 1964 to a low of 50 million in 1982. From then until 1996-97, passenger numbers remained between 50 million and 60 million per year. However, rail passenger numbers have been rising since 1994-95 and reached 68 million in 1999-00. (Table H1)
2.4 The volume of air passenger traffic increased from 1.2 million terminal passengers in 1960 to 16.8 million in 2000, the highest level ever recorded. There have been increases in every year since 1960 apart from 1968, 1974, 1982, 1985 and 1991. (Table H1)
3. Freight traffic - main points
3.1 The amount of freight carried by road fluctuated between 1975 and 1987 (see Figure H4), rising to 172 million tonnes per year in 1976 and falling to 128 million tonnes per year in 1986. Since then, it has been more stable, varying between 149 million tonnes (in 1991) and 162 million tonnes (in 1996). The total of 159 million tonnes in 2000 was slightly higher than the average for the period from 1988 to 1999, and was 4% less than the 1975 figure. (Table H2)
3.2 The volume of rail freight traffic fell from 30 million tonnes in 1960 to 5 million tonnes in 1993, with little change since then. (Table H2)
3.3 Coastal shipping rose rapidly, from 5 million tonnes in 1975 to 34 million tonnes in 1980. Since then, the total has fluctuated, rising to 37 million (in 1983) and falling to 29 million (in 1987 and 1993). It then rose to a peak of 46 million in 1998 before falling back to 41 million in 1999. (Table H2)
3.4 From 1982, the annual total freight lifted on inland waterways has remained between 9 million and 12 million tonnes. (Table H2)
3.5 The amount of oil carried in pipelines rose rapidly to 23 million tonnes in 1977, and has fluctuated since then between 21 million tonnes and 30 million tonnes per year. (Table H2)
4. Other vehicle related statistics - main points
4.1 The number of vehicles licensed has increased from an estimated 0.8 million in 1962 to 2.2 million in 2000. There have been increases in almost every year. (Table H3)
4.2 The number of new registrations of vehicles has increased from 86,000 in 1962 to 220,000 in 2000, having risen and fallen a number of times during that period. (Table H3)
4.3 The number of injury road accidents from 23,225 in 1966 to 15,077 in 2000. There have been falls in most years, although sometimes the drop in accidents appeared to be levelling off. However, the number of injury road accidents has steadily fallen. (Table H3)
4.4 The number of vehicle crossings on toll bridges in 2000 was about 39.6 million, about 31/2 times the 11.3 million in 1971. (Table H3)
5. Notes, Sources and Further Information
5.1 In general, notes and definitions of these statistics, and details of the sources of the statistics and where further information may be found, appear at the start of the chapter on each topic. This section, therefore, only covers matters which are not dealt with in the earlier chapters.
5.2 Passenger Traffic
5.2.1 Car Traffic on major roads: Chapter 6 describes the methods used to estimate the volume of car traffic on major roads in Scotland for 1983 and subsequent years. As those methods cannot be used to estimate car traffic in Scotland for earlier years, The Scottish Executive had to make ad-hoc estimates for the years from 1975 to 1982. These ad-hoc estimates were calculated using the rate of change in the volume of traffic for Great Britain as a whole, adjusted to take account of changes in the number of vehicles licensed in Scotland relative to the number for Great Britain as a whole. The estimates for 1975 to 1982 therefore indicate the likely level of traffic on major roads in Scotland in those years, and may well be less accurate than the estimates for later years.
5.2.2 Bus Passengers: Chapter 2 describes the method used to collect these statistics with effect from the 1985-86 financial year. A different method was used for 1984 and earlier years: the figures for 1975 to 1984 relate to calendar years and, prior to 1986, the term "stage services" was used (rather than "local services"). The figures for 1960 to 1974 are on a different basis: they were produced by adding together the total numbers of passenger journeys reported by the Scottish Bus Group (for calendar years) and the four city corporations (for financial years). They therefore include any non-local services run by these operators, and exclude any local (or "stage") services that were run by other operators. In addition, it appears that the figures reported by the Glasgow city corporation may have included passenger journeys on trolley buses and on the Glasgow Underground.
5.2.3 Rail Passengers: See Chapter 8. The statistics relate to financial years with effect from 1985-86. The figure for 1984 is derived from a total for the fifteen-month period 1 January 1984 to 31 March 1985, by scaling this down to an estimate for a twelve-month period. The figures for 1983 and earlier years are for calendar years.
5.2.4 Air Passengers: Chapter 9 describes these statistics.
5.3 Freight Traffic
5.3.1 Road Freight: Chapter 3 describes these statistics. There is a small discontinuity between the figures for 1986 and 1987: the former excludes freight whose destination is Northern Ireland, and the latter includes such freight. As Table 3.1 shows, the amount involved is a very small percentage of the total.
5.3.2 Rail Freight: See Chapter 8. The statistics relate to financial years with effect from 1985-86. The figure for 1984 is derived from a total for the fifteen-month period from 1 January 1984 to 31 March 1985, by scaling this down to an estimate for a twelve-month period. The figures for 1983 and earlier years are for calendar years.
5.3.3 Coastal shipping: covers freight on coastwise voyages for which either the origin or the destination (or both) is in Scotland - i.e. all coastwise freight lifted in Scotland plus the coastwise freight lifted elsewhere in the UK which is discharged in Scotland. This definition of coastal shipping excludes foreign, "one port" and inland waterway freight shipping. For historical reasons, the definition used for the "coastal shipping" series differs from the definitions which are used for the water transport statistics provided in chapter 10. There is a small discontinuity between 1981 and 1982, due to a change in definitions.
5.3.4 Inland Waterway: See Chapter 10. Unfortunately, figures for 1979 and earlier years are not readily available.
5.3.5 Pipeline: covers the total carried by all pipelines which are in excess of 50km in length and which carry crude oil. Pipelines which are less than 50km long are excluded for Scotland.
5.4 Other vehicle related statistics
5.4.1 Vehicles Licensed: See Chapter 1. The figures for 1962 to 1974 represented the numbers of licences current at any time during the third quarter. They were derived from an annual "census" which used the records held by local licensing authorities. The method underlying the census then changed as vehicle records were gradually transferred from local taxation offices to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Centre. Consequently, the figures for 1974 to 1978 are not comparable. No census results were available for 1977. Censuses based entirely on the record of licensed vehicles at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) began on 31 December 1978 and subsequent counts were taken on the last day of each year up to and including 31 December 1992. In 1992 the source of this information changed, as described in Chapter 1 - the new source figures for all vehicles licensed at the end of 1992 are 2.4% lower for Scotland than the figures from the old source.
5.4.2 Road Accidents: Chapter 7 describes these statistics.
5.4.3 Toll Bridges: See Chapter 4. The Erskine Bridge opened on 2nd July 1971, so the figure for that year does not include a full year's contribution from that bridge. The figure for 1979 is also incomplete, because no vehicle crossings were recorded for the Erskine Bridge for about two months due to industrial action by the toll collectors.
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