1. Introduction
1.1 The tables that follow provide a summary of the trends for each mode of transport in Scotland over the past ten years, and a comparison of some key figures for Scotland and Great Britain (or, in a few cases, the UK as a whole).
1.2 The main change in this section in this edition is the inclusion of a number of charts, in order to show clearly the trends in some key transport statistics.
2. Transport in Scotland: main points
2.1 The number of motor vehicles licensed in Scotland in 1999 was 2.1 million, 3% more than the previous year, and is estimated to be about 26% more than the number in 1989, when account is taken of the change in the basis of the figures in 1993. Figure 1 shows a generally steady increase in vehicle numbers, the majority of which are in the "Private and Light Goods" taxation class (see also chapter 1).
2.2 Passenger journeys on local bus services continued to fall. In 1998-99 there were 413 million passenger journeys on local services, 6% less than the previous year, and 36% less than in 1988-89. The decline in passenger numbers is evident in Figure 2. However, local bus passenger numbers are still significantly higher than those for other modes of public transport (see also chapter 2).
2.3 Freight lifted by road in 1999 was 156 million tonnes, about the same as in 1998, and only slightly higher than the amount lifted 10 years earlier (just under 155 million tonnes). Apart from a dip in 1991, the volume of road freight appears to have remained close to the average for the period of 157 million tonnes per year (see also chapter 3).
2.4 In 1999, almost 11 million vehicles were recorded as crossing the Forth Road Bridge northbound. In total, around 21.9 million vehicles were estimated to have crossed the bridge in 1999 (almost 60,000 per day), and more than in any previous year (see also chapter 4).
2.5 Trunk road constructed/opened in 1998-99 was the lowest in the past ten years (see also chapter 5).
2.6 Over the past four years, the estimated total volume of traffic on major roads (Motorways and A roads) has remained broadly unchanged, at around 25 billion (thousand million) vehicle kilometres. However, it has grown by over a sixth since 1989 (see also chapter 6).
2.7 Over the past ten years, the number of injury road accidents has fallen considerably. In 1999, the number of fatal accidents fell by 54 (16%) over the figure for 1998. This was the lowest level since the current records of the numbers of fatal accidents began in 1970 (see also chapter 7).
2.8 Between 1989-90 and 1996-97, the number of rail passenger journeys originating in Scotland remained between 50 and 55 million per year. However, the level has risen since then. It is estimated that the total number of passenger journeys in 1998-99 was 60.1 million, an increase of 4% over the previous year (see also chapter 8).
2.9 There were almost 16 million air terminal passengers at airports in Scotland in 1999, 5% more than in the previous year, and 73% more than in 1989. Figure 3 shows a fairly steady rise in passengers numbers after 1991 (see also chapter 9).
2.10 In 1999, the number of passengers carried on selected shipping services within Scotland (those services for which at least ten years’ figures are available) was 5.3 million, about the same as in the previous year, and the number of vehicles carried remained around 1.1 million. The longer-term trends are affected by the reduction in traffic that followed the opening of the Skye Bridge in 1995 (see also chapter 10).