Differences in the transport patterns for different groups of people are shown in a statistical bulletin: Household Transport in 2006 - released by Scotland's Chief Statistician.
Since 1999, the Scottish Household Survey (SHS) has provided background to many trends in transport, by asking people how and why they travel, and about their views on a range of transport issues.
Among the main findings are that, in Scotland - in 2006: :
Two-thirds of commuters travelled to work by car or van (60% as a driver and 7% as a passenger), 14% walked and 12% went by bus. In recent years, driving to work has risen and getting a lift has fallen
51% of pupils walked to school, 24% went by bus and 22% by car. In recent years, walking to school has fallen and going by car has risen
68% of households had at least one car, and 24% had two or more. In recent years, both percentages have risen
66% of people aged 17 or over had a full driving licence: 77% of men compared to 58% of women. In recent years, the figure for men has remained steady, whereas the figure for women has increased.
The sections below describe the main points shown by the statistics. Sampling variability can cause year-to-year fluctuations. For some topics, figures are unavailable for 1999 because the relevant questions were added to the survey later.
Travel To Work
11% of employed adults worked at or from home in 2006, compared with under 8 per cent in 1999
Two-thirds of commuters said that they travelled to work by car or van (60% as a driver and 7% as a passenger), 14% walked, 12% went by bus, 3% took a train and 2% cycled
65% of men drove to work compared to 56% of women. Commuting by car rose with the annual net income of the household, from 45% for commuters from 'up to £10,000' households to 80% for those from 'over £40,000' households
Car drivers were the least likely to change their mode of travel to work
Since 1999, driving to work has risen from 55 to 60%, and getting a lift has fallen from 12% to 7%. There has been little change in the use of other modes of transport
Travel To School
51% of pupils walked, 24% used a bus, 22% went by car or van, and 1% cycled
59% of primary school age pupils walked, as did 42% of secondary school age pupils. 29% of pupils from households with an annual net income of over £40,000 travelled by car, compared with only 12% of those from 'up to £10,000' households
35% of pupils who travelled to school by car could use public transport. The main reasons identified for not doing so were 'prefer to use a car' (40% of them), 'inconvenient' (38%) and 'too young to travel on own' (36%)
Since 1999, walking to school has fallen from 55 to 51 per cent and going by car has risen from 18 to 22%. There has been little change in the use of the other modes of transport
Cars
68% of households had at least one car, and 24% had two or more. Car availability rose with the annual net income of the household, from 38% of households in the 'up to £10,000' band to 99% in the 'over £40,000' band. 57% of households in large urban areas had a car, compared with around 86% in rural areas. Only 42% of households in the most deprived quintile (20%) of areas in Scotland had a car, compared with 85% in the least deprived quintile
Since 1999, the percentage of households with one or more cars has risen from 63 to 68%, and the percentage with two or more cars has increased from 18 to 24%
Households' average expenditure on fuel for cars tended to rise steadily with income, and was highest in accessible rural areas.
Driving
66% of people aged 17 and over had a full driving licence: 77% of men (but only 58% of women) and 79% of 40 to 49 year olds
Since 1999, the percentage of men with a driving licence has hardly changed, but the figure for women has risen from 52 to 58%
40% of people aged 17 and over said that they drove every day: 48% of men compared with 34% of women. 55% of people aged between 40 and 49 drove every day
90% of drivers who shopped at a supermarket always used a car to do so, as did 69% of drivers who visited friends or relatives. Of seven different types of journey, the percentage of drivers who always used a car who would find it easy to use another means of transport was highest for shopping for small amounts of food (49%), and lowest for supermarket shopping (18%), visiting friends or relatives (19%) and evenings out for leisure purposes (22%)
Public Transport & Concessionary Travel
44% of adults had used a local bus service in the month prior to the interview, and 19% had used a train. 13% of women and 10 per cent of men said that they had used a local bus every day or almost every day, as did 18% of adults living in large urban areas
Since 2002, the percentage who had used a local bus in the past month has risen from 41 to 44 per cent; for train, the rise was from 14 to 19 per cent
14 per cent of adults said that they would feel "very safe", and 41 per cent would feel "fairly safe", when travelling by bus in the evening. However, 8 per cent would feel "not safe at all", and 15 per cent "not particularly safe": percentages which were higher for those who never used evening buses than for those who did so
85 per cent of all householders said they were up to 6 minutes walk away from a bus stop. Overall, 23 per cent of householders said that there were at least five buses per hour at the nearest bus stop: 44 per cent in large urban areas but only 1 per cent or less in rural areas and "remote" small towns
Since 1999, the percentage saying that there were at least five buses per hour has risen from 20 to 23 per cent
84 per cent of adults aged 60 and over held a concessionary travel pass (81 per cent of men and 86 per cent of women). 40 per cent of adults in this age group had used such a pass at least once a week: 34 per cent of men and 47 per cent of women
Since 2003, the percentage of people aged 60+ holding a concessionary travel pass has risen from 77 to 84 per cent
Some Other Topics
11% of adults said that they had a long-standing illness, health problem or disability and had difficulty with one or more of a number of transport-related activities, such as walking for at least ten minutes or using a bus. The percentage increased to 18% of those aged 60-69, 24% of 70-79 year olds and 38% of people aged 80+
47% of adults said that they had made a trip of more than a quarter of a mile by foot for pleasure or to keep fit (including walking a dog) in the previous seven days: 49% of men and 45% of women
Only 4% of adults said that they had cycled for pleasure or to keep fit in the previous seven days: 6% of men and 3% of women
35 per cent of households had one or more bicycles that adults could use
19% of adults had used a road map to plan a journey by private transport in the previous month, 11% had used route planning software or an internet journey planner and 8% had asked a friend
For planning journeys by public transport, 8% had used a timetable displayed at a station or bus stop and 6 per cent had accessed the internet
17% of adults had heard of Traveline Scotland, and 5% had used it.
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