Personal travel

How much are disabled people travelling?

The average number of trips per disabled adult the day before their survey interview was 1.61 in 2024. This was higher than in 2023 (1.39). The level of travel in 2024 is a return to the level before the COVID-19 pandemic. There was also a rise for non-disabled people. [Time series table 3, Figure 2]

Figure 2: Average number of journeys per day per adult 2015 to 2024

In 2022-24, the average number of daily journeys for those whose disability limited their activities a lot was 1.21 compared to 1.71 for those whose disability limited their activities a little. [Table 11]

Method of travel

Driving a car or van was the most common mode of transport for disabled people in 2022-24 (44% of journeys). Walking was the next most common mode of transport making up more than a quarter (27%) of the journeys made by disabled people. [Table 5, Figure 3]

Disabled people were less likely to make their journey driving a car or van than non-disabled people (44% to 54%). They were more likely to be a car or van passenger (15% to 10%) or walk (27% to 24%) than non-disabled people. [Table 5, Figure 3]

Those whose disability limited their day-to-day activities a lot were more likely to be a passenger in a car than those whose activities were limited a little (19% to 13%) . [Table 5]

In 2022-24, disabled people were less likely to possess a driving licence drive than those who were not disabled (55% compared to 78%). [Table 20]

Disabled people were less likely to have a car available to their household than non-disabled people (55% compared to 80%). [Table 21]

A quarter of disabled people (26%) had taken a flight for leisure in the last 12 months. This was much lower than for non-disabled people (50%). [Table 31]

Method of travel to work

In 2022-24, over half of disabled people (54%) usually drove to work. Disabled people were more likely to take the bus to work than non-disabled people (16% to 9%). [Table 6]

Why are people travelling?

In 2022-24, a smaller percentage of the journeys of disabled people were to or from work (12%, compared to 23% for those who are not disabled) and a higher percentage of the journeys of disabled people were to the shops (30% compared to 21%). [Table 9, Figure 4]

Distance travelled

In 2022-24, disabled adults had a shorter average (median) journey (3.4 km), than those who were not disabled (4.6 km). [Table 13, Figure 5]

Those disabled people whose ability to carry out day-to-day activities was limited a lot had a shorter median journey (3.0 km) than those whose ability to carry out activities was limited a little (3.7 km). [Table 13, Figure 5]

Figure 5: Average (median) journey length (km), by whether adult is disabled and whether their condition limits the ability to carry out day-to-day tasks, 2022-2024 (combined)

Median distance to work was lower for disabled than non-disabled people (6.4 km vs 8.0 km). [Table 15]

Time of travel

On weekdays disabled people’s journeys are more likely to be in the middle of the day when services are less busy than at peak times. For those whose disability limits activities a lot, there is an even higher proportion of travel between 9:30 and 4:30. [Table 16, Figure 6]

Travel cost and affordability

In 2022-24, more than half of disabled people (59%) found it easy to afford their transport costs, but this was lower than for non-disabled people (71%). [Table 35]

Disabled people in Scotland can access several national and local travel concessions covering bus, rail and ferry travel. Also, all people aged 60 or over are entitled to free bus travel. As a result, most disabled people (87%) reported spending nothing on public transport. The average (mean) weekly cost of public transport for disabled people in 2022-24 was £6.70. [Table 34]

In 2022-24, over half of disabled people (55%) spent nothing on car fuel. Of those who did spend on fuel, the average (mean) amount spent in the last month was £115. This was lower than for non-disabled people (£138). [Table 33]