Increase in travel across major modes

The compendium Scottish Transport Statistics publication released today shows that travel across a range of modes has increased over the latest reporting year, but generally remains below pre-pandemic levels.

The most recent statistics show that there were 334 million bus journeys in 2024/25, an increase of 2% compared to 2023/24 but 7% below the number of journeys in 2019/20.

There were 84.7 million passenger journeys on ScotRail services in 2024/25, an increase of 4% compared with 2023/24, but 12% lower than the 96 million passenger journeys in 2019/20.

Motor traffic also rose in 2024. The distance driven by motor vehicles on Scotland’s roads increased by 2% to 49.3 billion vehicle kilometres in 2024. This is slightly above the 2019 figure of 48.7 billion vehicle kilometres.

Amongst different types of motor vehicles, the distance travelled by cars has not reached pre-pandemic levels. The distance driven by cars increased by 2 per cent in 2024 compared with 2023, but was still 2 per cent lower than in 2019. The distance driven by Light Goods Vehicles (LGVs) has seen an increase of 17% since 2019.

The latest figures for greenhouse gas emissions relate to 2023 and these show that greenhouse gas emissions from transport were 10% lower than in 2019. Greenhouse gas emissions in 2023 were 17% higher than in 2020, when transport was reduced as a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Transport accounted for 33.2% of Scotland’s total greenhouse gas emissions in 2023, 1 percentage point more than in 2019 and in 2022 (both 32.2%).

Other findings presented in the publication include:

• There were 28 million air passengers at Scottish airports in 2024, an increase of 8% in the last year, although this was down 2% compared with 2019.
• There were 9.7 million passengers on ferry services in 2024, with 8 million passengers on routes entirely within Scotland. Ferry passenger numbers in 2024 were similar to 2023, but 7% lower than in 2019.
• On-road cycling is estimated to have decreased by 5% in 2024 compared to 2023. However, this was still 5% higher than 2019.
• The number of motor vehicles registered in Scotland (3.2 million) is at an all-time high.