Car still top for Scots travellers
A survey of Scotland’s transport and travel habits has found that travellers in Scotland continue to make the majority of their journeys by car or van.
Transport Scotland statisticians today released statistics on transport and travel in Scotland from the Scottish Household Survey 2017. The publication includes a range of statistics about the journeys people make, and how they travel.
Nearly three-quarters of adults reported travelling the previous day. Cars/vans remained the most popular mode of transport, being used for 65% of journeys (52% as driver and 13% as a passenger). In around two thirds of car journeys, the driver was the only occupant of the car.
Walking accounted for another 21% of journeys, public transport 11% and cycling 1.5%.
Most of the journeys that people made were short in duration and distance, with more than half under 5 km in distance and over two thirds lasting less than 20 minutes. The median car journey was 6.8 km, and the median walking journey was 0.9 km.
The main reasons for travel were commuting and shopping, each accounting for just under a quarter of all journeys made.
Analysis of survey questions on public transport use found that bus use was most common amongst younger people (68% of 16-19 year olds had used the bus in the past month) and least common people in the age groups between thirty and fifty nine (between 33% and 35% had used the bus in the past month), before increasing again for people aged over sixty.
Train use was higher in higher income households (42% of respondents with a household income of more than £40,000 had used the train in the past month compared with only 23% of survey respondents with a household income of less than £10,000).
Other findings from the survey include:
• Sixty nine per cent of respondents were very or fairly satisfied with public transport, a decrease from 2016 (72%).
• Forty one per cent of respondents said they would consider buying an electric car or van (up from 36% in 2016).
• Where individuals had used ordering services (such as internet shopping) to have goods delivered the previous day, they reported a reduction in the travel they made that day in 73% of cases.
• Forty one per cent of respondents said they would consider buying an electric car or van (up from 36% in 2016).
• Where individuals had used ordering services (such as internet shopping) to have goods delivered the previous day, they reported a reduction in the travel they made that day in 73% of cases.
Read the full publication at https://www.transport.gov.scot/publication/transport-and-travel-in-scotland-2017/