3. Main Findings including comparisons with SHS data

3.1. This section identifies key points from the National Travel Survey web tables and compares the figures to those reported through the Scottish Household Survey and Travel Diary. Detailed analysis of the methodology behind the headline figures reported by the NTS and SHS is included in Section 4.

Trips and Distance

Scottish residents made fewer trips than the previous year, 957 per person in 2009/2010 compared to 978 in 2008/2009. [Table 1] This was an average of 2.62 trips per person per day.
- In the SHS Travel Diary sample for 2009/2010, those who travelled the previous day made 2.6 journeys on average.
Scottish residents spent an average of 358 hours per year (almost 15 days) travelling. [Table 1]
Scottish residents travelled an estimated 7,010 miles per person per year (or 19 miles per day) within Great Britain in the two-year period 2009-2010, a slight decrease on the 2008/2009 figure but similar to 2006/2007. [Table 1 and 3]
Since 2002/2003 the average trip length has increased from 6.7 miles to 7.3 miles. [Table 1 and 14]
- The average distance reported in the Scottish Household Survey Travel diary was 6.6 miles in 2009/2010. [SHS Travel Diary 2009/2010, Table 15] Some explanations for this difference are provided in Section 4.
The average speed of journeys has remained around 20 miles per hour. [Table 1]
- The average speed reported in the SHS is around 16 miles per hour, though the methods used for distance calculations differ between the surveys so these figures are not strictly comparable.

Mode of travel

Travel by car (either as a driver or passenger) accounted for almost three quarters of the total distance travelled per person per year (5,049 miles, 72%). [Table 1]
- The SHS reported around 74 per cent of miles travelled were in a car or van (either as a driver or passenger).
Public Transport accounted for 1,240 miles (18%) of the average distance travelled per person per year, of which 485 miles (7%) was by local bus and 364 miles (5%) by rail. [Table 3]
- The SHS reported 6.5 per cent of miles travelled are by bus and 5 per cent by rail.
Walking accounted for 179 miles (3%). [Table 3]
- The SHS reported 2.2 per cent of distance travelled by walking.
Cycling accounted for 35 miles in 2009/2010, an increase from 25 miles in 2006/2007 though samples are small. [Table 3] The NTS reported about 0.5 per cent of distance travelled is by bicycle.
- The SHS Travel Diary reported 0.3 per cent of distance travelled are by bicycle.
Seventy-nine per cent of journeys under one mile were made on foot (151 out of 191 journeys), 18 per cent were made by car, van or lorry (21 as a driver and 13 as a passenger out of an average of 191 journeys). [Table 7]
- The SHS reported 53 per cent of journeys under a mile were walking journeys and 40 per cent were by car (either as a driver or passenger).
Fifty-six per cent of journeys under two miles were made on foot with 36 per cent by car, van or lorry. [Table 7]
- In the SHS Travel Diary, 41 per cent of journeys under two miles were walking journeys compared with 50 per cent by car.

Purpose of travel

Shopping was the most frequent purpose for travel, however more time was spent travelling for commuting and for business purposes.
Shopping was the most frequent purpose of travel in 2009/2010, accounting for 21 per cent of the average 957 trips per person per year. Commuting accounted for 17 per cent of trips and visiting friends accounted for 15 per cent. [Table 12]
- Shopping accounted for 23 per cent of journeys in the Scottish Household Survey, commuting 26 per cent and visiting friends 11 per cent [SHS Travel Diary 2009/2010, Table 3]
Twenty per cent of the average distance travelled per person per year was spent commuting. Seventeen per cent was spent visiting friends and 14 per cent was shopping, a similar distance to day trips and holidays. [Table 13]
- The SHS Travel Diary reports 29 per cent of the distance travelled was spent commuting, 12 per cent shopping and 10 per cent visiting friends or relatives.
Commuting journeys were 8.4 miles on average compared to an average of 7.3 miles for all journeys. [Table 14]
- The SHS reports an average commuting journey of 7.6 miles compared to an overall journey length of 6.6 miles. [SHS Travel Diary 2009/2010, Table 15]
The longest trips on average were holiday / day trips (28.4 miles) followed by business trips (22.6 miles). [Table 14]
On average 3.7 days were spent travelling for business or commuting and 2.5 days were spent travelling for shopping. [Table 15]

Demographics - Gender

Sixty-nine per cent of the adult population had a full driving licence, [Table 2]
A higher proportion of men held a driving licence than women. 78 per cent of men held a driving licence compared to 60 per cent of women. [Table 2]
- These proportions are similar to the Scottish Household Survey estimate of 68 per cent. [Transport and Travel in Scotland 2010, Table1] The SHS shows 76 per cent of men and 60 per cent of women held a driving licence. [Transport and Travel in Scotland 2010, Table1]
Women made more trips per year than men on average (997 compared to 955) but men travelled 26 per cent further (2006/2010). [Table 28 and 29]
Men made more trips as a car driver than women, (57% of trips by men compared to 42% of trips by women). [Table 28]
Men travelled almost 90 per cent further as a car driver than women. [Table 29]
Women made more trips and travelled further than men as car passengers and by bus. [Table 28 and 29]

Demographics - Age

Compared to the overall average distance travelled per person per year (2006/2010), children travelled 34 per cent less than the average for Scotland, those aged 60+ travelled 23 per cent less, and those aged 30-59 travelled 29 per cent more. [Table 29]

Demographics - Car availability

Households with no cars available made 26 per cent fewer trips than the average for all households in 2009/2010. Households with one car available made 3 per cent more and households with two or more cars available made 12 per cent more trips per year on average. [Table 20]

Frequency of Walking

Forty per cent of adults said they walked for at least 20 minutes (without stopping) at least three times per week, with another 22 per cent doing so at least once or twice a week. [Table 33]
- The SHS reports 43 per cent of people walked as a means of transportation on at least three days in the previous week. Thirty-four per cent of people reported walking for pleasure on at least three days in the last week. [Transport and Travel in Scotland 2010, Table 3]
Thirty-eight per cent of adults walked less than once a week according to the National Travel Survey. [Table 33]
- The SHS reports 38 per cent of people had not walked as a means of transportation in the last week and 49 per cent had not walked for pleasure in the last week. [Transport and Travel in Scotland 2010, Table 3]
Three quarters of children said they walked for at least 20 minutes at least once a week. [Table 33]

Travel to work

Seventy per cent of business and commuting trips were by car, van or lorry (60% as a driver and 10% as a passenger). Eleven per cent were walking trips and 17 per cent were by bus or other public transport. [Table 10]
- The SHS Travel Diary reported similar percentages with 71 per cent of commuting trips by car or van (62% as a driver and 9% as a passenger). Thirteen per cent of commuting journeys were on foot, ten per cent were by bus and three per cent were by rail. [SHS Travel Diary 2009/2010, Table 12]
- Eighty-five per cent of business travel was either as a driver or passenger in a car or van. [SHS Travel Diary 2009/2010, Table 12]
- The SHS travel to work question also reported similar proportions. Sixty seven per cent travelled by car or van, thirteen per cent travelled on foot, eleven per cent by bus and four per cent by rail. [Transport and Travel in Scotland 2010, Table 6]

Travel to school

The percentage of children walking to school has fallen from 54 per cent in 2004/2005 to 42 per cent in 2009/2010. Bus travel has increased from 20 per cent to 28 per cent over the same period. A quarter of pupils were driven to school and one per cent travelled by bicycle. [Table 34]
- The SHS reports 50 per cent of school children walking to school in 2010, bus accounts for 24 per cent, 23 per cent of pupils are driven to school and one per cent travel by bicycle. [Transport and Travel in Scotland 2010, Table 14]