Scottish Transport Statistics No 34 2015 Edition

Chapter 11: Personal and Cross-Modal Travel

Personal and Cross-Modal Travel

1. Introduction

1.1 This chapter previously included information from the National Travel Survey (NTS). However, Scottish data are no longer collected in the NTS, estimates for Scotland from the NTS are available in previous editions of this publication. This chapter now focuses on estimates derived mainly from the Scottish Household Survey (SHS), findings from others sources are marked as such within the text.

1.2 The SHS is a sample survey and provide person-based cross-modal information, in contrast to most of the earlier chapters, which tend to be based on particular modes of transport. The SHS also includes a travel diary that asks respondents for information about the journeys they made on the previous day, including information on the duration, distance, purpose and mode of travel. More information and further tables covering transport findings from the Scottish Household Survey can be found in Transport and Travel in Scotland: http://bit.ly/tatismain.

1.3 In this edition of STS we have also presented relevant information on travel behaviours collected from the 2011 census as previously published by the National Records of Scotland. More information about the sources used can be found in the Sources section on page 225.

Key points

77% of people had travelled the previous day when asked in 2014, up from 76% in 2013.
Of the 544 million public transport journeys made in 2013, 78 per cent were by bus, 16 per cent were journeys by rail, air accounts for 4 per cent and ferries 2 per cent.
Thirty per cent of journeys to work and 74 per cent of journeys to school are by public and active travel

2. Main Points

Trips

2.1 People in Scotland made more trips in 2014, with 77% reporting having travelled the previous day, up from 76% in 2013. Men were more likely to have travelled the previous day than women (79% compared to 75%) and older people were less likely to have travelled than younger people.

2.2 As in previous years, the car was the most popular mode of transport for journeys made in 2014, with 48% of journeys made as a car driver. This was a decrease of 2 percentage points on the previous year. Thirteen per cent of journeys were made as a car passenger. Bus travel accounted for 9% and rail travel for 2%. A quarter of journeys were by walking (25%) and cycling accounted for 1% of all journeys. Four per cent of journeys were multi-stage, involving a change in mode of transport.

2.3 Twenty nine per cent of adults used the bus at least once per week in 2014, with 42% using a bus in the past month. Train use appeared to be less frequent; 9% of people had used the train at least once a week and 31% of people had used a train in the last month, in 2014.

Distance travelled

2.4 In 2014, most journeys tended to be over short distances, with a quarter of all journeys being under 1 km long and a further 25% between 1 and 3 km. The mean journey distance in 2014 was 8.4 km.

2.5 The average cycling journey was 4.4 km in length and the average walking journey was 1.1 km in length in 2014. Rail and car journeys tended to be over greater distances with car journeys covering an average of 10.4 km and rail journeys 28.4 km. Most journeys by active travel were made over short distances - 88% of walking journeys and 46% of cycling journeys were under 2km.

2.6 In 2014, commuting (22.5%) was the most frequent purpose of a journey, followed by shopping (21.1%), returning home (13.3%), visiting friends or relatives (9.7%) and travelling to education (6.2%). These percentages have stayed fairly stable in the last year.

Duration travelled

2.7 In terms of journey time most journeys in 2014 were short, with 70% lasting for less than 20 minutes: 38.1% of journeys were between 5 and 10 minutes long, 42% between ten and thirty minutes long and 11.8% between thirty minutes and an hour long. Only 4.2% of journeys lasted more than an hour and only 3.7% of journeys were very short (lasting under 5 minutes).

Car access

2.8 People in households with more cars were more likely to have travelled the previous day – 50% of people living in households with no cars made one or two trips the previous day, compared to 53% of people with two or more cars. Similarly, 12% of households with no cars made more than four journeys the previous day compared to 23% of those with two or more cars. Residents of households with at least one car available for private use made most of their journeys by car, with 54% of journeys made by households with one car and 68% of journeys made by households with two or more cars made as the driver of a car or van. Households with no car and households with one car made roughly the same number of journeys as a passenger in a car or van (13 or 14% of journeys),and those with two or more cars made 12 per cent of journeys as a passenger .

2.9 Households with no car access made a far higher proportion of their journeys by public and active travel. Bicycle use was highest in households with no cars available – 3% of journeys as opposed to 2% for households with one car and 1% for households with two or more cars. People in households with no cars available had a much higher proportion of journeys by foot, with 50% of journeys by members of these households being made by foot, compared to 22% for households with one car and 15% for households with two or more cars. The proportion of trips by public transport was also considerably higher for households with no car – 28% compared to 8% for households with one car and 4% for households with two or more cars.

Driving

2.10 The Scottish Household Survey (SHS) provides information about how often people aged 17 or over drive. In 2014, 46% of men, 36% of women and 41% of all people aged 17+ said that they drove every day. A further 20% stated they drove at least once a week (but not every day), 3% drove less frequently, 4% had a full driving licence but never drove, and 32% did not have a full driving licence. (Table 11.10)

2.11 Since the recent peak in 2007, the percentage who drove every day has fallen from 45.2 per cent to 40.9 per cent, but over the same period the proportion of those who drove at least once a week has risen by 5 percentage points. (Table 11.12)

2.12 The frequency of driving varied with age. In 2014, over half of people aged 40 to 59 said they drove every day. As age rises this falls (to 13% for people aged 80 and over). The frequency of driving also varied with the annual net income of the household. Around two thirds of people aged 17+ living in households with an annual net income of £40,000 or more said they drove every day, compared with around a fifth of those living in households with an annual net income of up to £10,000. Around a third (31%) of people aged 17+ in large urban areas drove every day compared to 51% in 'remote rural' areas. (Table 11.10)

Walking

2.13 In 2014, 67% of adults made a journey of more than a quarter of a mile by foot to go somewhere in the last seven days – the highest proportion seen in the last decade. Young adults (aged 16-19) were the most likely to have walked to go somewhere (81%), compared with 72% of those aged 30-39, around two thirds of those in their 40s, 50s and 60s, and two fifths of those aged 80 or above (39%). (Tables 11.11 & 11.13)

2.14 In 2014, 58% of adults said that they had walked for pleasure or to keep fit at least once in the last seven days – also the highest in recent times. There was some variation with age: the percentage was highest for those aged 40-49 (64%) and lowest for those aged 80 or above (27%). There was less variation with household income, although those with net annual incomes of over £30,000 were more likely than those with lower incomes. (Tables 11.11 & 11.13)

Travel to Work (SHS data)

2.15 SHS travel to work statistics underpin Scotland's National Indicator: "Increase the proportion of journeys to work made by public or active travel". The Scottish Household Survey is the preferred source of information on travel to work. More information on National Indicators can be found on the Scotland Performs website: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/About/scotPerforms/indicators/publicTransport

2.16 The SHS shows that 13% of employed adults worked from home in 2014, an increase from 2004 (9%). Almost two thirds (64%) of self-employed people worked from home, though this is based on a relatively small sample size and therefore may be subject to larger confidence intervals. (Tables 11.17 & 11.21)

2.17 Overall, the SHS found that the majority (68%) of employed adults who did not work from home travelled to work by car or van (as either the driver or as a passenger) in 2014. This percentage tended to increase with age (16-20: 47%, Over 40: around 70%), type of employment (61% of those who work part-time, compared to 69% for full-time) and annual net household income (rising to 76% of those in the £40,000+ band). (Table 11.18)

2.18 Other usual means of travel to work were: walking (13%); bus (10%); rail (4%); bicycle (3%) and other modes (3%). Use of such modes of transport also varied. For example: in general, the greater the income of the household, the less likely a person was to walk or use the bus to travel to work; the percentage who walked to work was highest in remote small towns (22%) and the percentage who commuted by bus was highest in large urban areas (17%). Since 2004, the percentage travelling to work by car or van (as driver or passenger) has remained around two thirds. Within this overall figure, the percentage travelling to work as a car passenger has fallen since 2004 (from 8.1% to 6.0%). Walking journeys have remained relatively stable around 13%, and little change has been seen in the use of other modes of transport (Tables 11.18 & 11.22)

Travel To Work (non-SHS data)

2.19 Other data sources show a similar pattern to the Scottish Household Survey data and also enable comparison with the rest of Great Britain.

2.20 Labour Force Survey results suggest that, between 2004 and 2014, there has been little change in the percentage for whom a car or a van is the usual means of travel to work (69% in both 2003 and 2014). There was also little change to walking which was 12% in both 2003 and 2014. People who work at home are excluded from these figures. These figures are similar to the findings from the SHS shown in table 11.18 (Table 11.14)

2.21 There appears to have been little change in recent years in the average times taken to travel to work by the main modes of transport (in 2014: 24 minutes by car; 38 minutes by bus and 14 minutes by foot). (Table 11.15 b)

2.22 The Scottish Census 2011 showed 2.4 million people aged between 16 and 74 in employment, excluding full-time students. 11% of these worked mainly from home. Of the remaining 2.1 million people, 36% had a journey of under 5 km to work, 43% had a journey of between 5 km and 30 km to work and 8% travelled 30 km or more to work. The remaining 12% had no fixed place of work, worked offshore or worked outside the UK. (Table 11.31).

2.23 Information about travel to work has been collected in population censuses since 1966. Excluding those that worked at home, the percentage of the working population using cars to travel to work had increased from 21% in 1966 to 69% in 2011 and the percentage using buses had fallen from 43% in 1966 to 11% in 2011. There had also been a significant fall in the proportion of the working population who walk to work, from 24% in 1966 to 11% in 2011. (Table 11.16)

2.24 The 2011 Census showed that the distance of people's journey to work tended to vary with their access to cars or vans. Seventy-four per cent of people living in households with no car or van available had a commute of fewer than 10km, compared with 60 per cent of those in households with one car or van available and 47 per cent of those in households with two or more cars or vans available. Conversely, the proportion of people who travelled 30km or more to work was higher for people in households with two or more cars or vans available (10 per cent) than for those in households with one car or van available (7 per cent) or with no cars or vans available (4 per cent). (Table 11.33)

Travel to School

2.25 In 2014, 51% of children in full-time education at school usually walked to school, 20% usually went by bus, 25% by car or van, 2% cycled. There was little difference between the sexes, but varied greatly with age: 59% of primary school age pupils (those aged up to 11) usually walked to school compared with only 42% of those of secondary school age (those aged 12 and over); 29% of primary pupils went by car or van compared with only 18% of secondary pupils; and only 9% of primary pupils usually travelled by bus compared with 36% of those of secondary age. (Table 11.19)

2.26 Those usually travelling by car/van tended to rise with household income, to 25-32% of pupils from households with an annual net income of £30,000 or more, reflecting patterns seen elsewhere in this chapter e.g. travel to work and car use more generally. Walking to school was lowest (28-29%) in rural areas. Estimates for those walking to school have remained relatively stable whilst those traveling by car has risen since 2004. The Sustrans Hands Up Scotland Survey shows similar findings. (Tables 11.19, 11.23 & 11.23a)

2.27 According to the 2011 Scottish Census, 88% of children aged between 4 and 11 travelled less than 5km to school, including 72% who travelled less than 2km. 51% of those aged over 18 travelled less than 5km to their place of study. 430,000 people of any age travelled under 2km to their place of study, with 73% of these people travelling by foot, 6% travelling by bus and 17% as a passenger in a car or van. Of the 428,000 people who travelled 2km or more to their place of study, 31 per cent did so as a car driver or passenger, 43 per cent travelled by bus and 7 per cent travelled by train. (Table 11.34 & 11.35)

Travel Abroad

2.28 According to the International Passenger Survey (IPS), Scottish residents made an estimated 3.9 million visits abroad in 2014 with about 3.7 million visits (94%) being made by air. Edinburgh was the main airport used and accounted for about 1.2 million visits (31% of all visits abroad), followed by Glasgow (just under 1.2 million or 30%), Prestwick (328,000 or 8%) and Aberdeen (215,000 or 5%). Around 161,000 visits abroad (4%) were made by sea, and roughly 63,000 (2%) were made using the Channel Tunnel. (Table 11.24)

2.29 Around 71% of Scottish residents' visits abroad were made for holiday purposes. Of these, just under a half (1.3 million) were on a package holiday whilst the rest travelled independently. There were 718,000 (18%) visits abroad to visit friends or relatives and 350,000 visits abroad for business purposes (9%). (Table 11.24)

2.30 Seventy six per cent (3 million) of Scottish residents' visits abroad were made to EU countries and visits to other European areas totalled 85,000 (2%). Visits to Canada and the USA together totalled about 317,000 (8%). (Table 11.25)

2.31 The estimated number of visits abroad by Scottish residents rose from 4.2 million in 2004 to a peak of 4.8 million in 2008, a rise of 14%. The numbers then fell year on year to a low of just under 3.6 million in 2013, a fall of 25%. There has now been an increase of 9% between 2013 and 2014. Between 2004 and 2014 there has been a general decline in the number of package holidays while those travelling independently has generally increased, though are currently below the 2008 peak. Other holidays increased by 51% between 2004 and 2008 but has since fallen back 19%. There was also a large increase in the number of visits to friends and relatives over the same period, with numbers almost doubling between 2004 and 2008 and falling 21% since. Some of the apparent year-to-year changes may be due to sampling variability, however, the general trends reflect patterns described elsewhere in this publication. (Table 11.26)

Transport Model for Scotland

2.32 Information on travel between different parts of Scotland is available from the Transport Model for Scotland (TMfS). The base year of TMfS is 2012.

2.33 It is estimated that, on an average weekday in 2012, 5.2 million person-trips were made by car, bus or train across the boundaries of one or more of the zones which are within the area covered by the TMfS. Around one third (34%) of these trips were within the Clydeplan region, 23% within SESplan region, 7% within TAYplan, and 8% within Aberdeen and the North East. (Table 11.27)

2.34 Of the 5.2 million inter-zonal person trips per weekday it is estimated that 4.1 million were by car. These accounted for over four-fifths of the total, and the main features of the pattern of trips by car were similar to those described in the previous paragraph. There were also an estimated 1.1 million inter-zonal person-trips by bus or train per weekday. Two fifths of these were within Clydeplan, and about a quarter were within SESplan. (Table 11.27)

2.35 There was an average of just over 4.2 million trips per weekday by cars and goods vehicles. One third were within Clydeplan, and just under a quarter were within SESplan. (Table 11.27)

Concessionary Travel

2.36 155 million passenger journeys were made under all types of concessionary fare schemes in 2014-15, 0.3% more than in 2013-14. Concessionary travel schemes have varied over the years: a national minimum standard of free off-peak local bus travel for elderly and disabled people in Scotland was introduced from 30 September 2002, the scheme was extended to men aged 60-64 from 1 April 2003. In 2006 this was superseded by the introduction of the National Concessionary Travel Scheme for the elderly and disabled which allowed free bus travel across Scotland. Including the young persons' scheme, concessionary bus travel accounted for 147 million passenger journeys in 2014-15, 94% of concessionary journeys by all modes of transport). (Table 11.29)

Traveline Scotland

2.37 In 2014 Traveline Scotland received 295,200 telephone calls which was 13% less than the previous year. Its Web site and smart phone app recorded 12.6 million hits in 2014, up 10% from the previous year. (Table 11.30).

Table 11.1 Trips per person per year by main mode