Statistical Bulletin Transport Series Scottish Household Survey: Travel Diary 2009/2010

7. Distance and Duration

• Sixty-two per cent of journeys were less than 5 km in 2009/10, with almost half being less than 3 km (39% were less than 2km and 24% less than 1 km).

Figure 14: Distance travelled, 2009/2010

7.1 In 2009/2010, the average (mean) journey distance was 11 km, compared to a median of only 3 km, this shows that half of all journeys were 3km or less. This is reflective of the fact that the majority of journeys are undertaken in urban areas, and journeys in these areas cover a shorter distance than those in rural areas. [Table 15]

7.2 Since 2007, there has been a shift in the proportion of distances at the lower and upper ends of the scale with a decrease in the proportion of journeys 1-3km and an increase in those over 20km. [Table 14]

7.3 The vast majority of journeys were less than 30 minutes (82%) in duration; only 6 per cent were over an hour. Distance and duration are obviously related, dependent on other factors such as travel mode. Therefore, it makes sense that the majority of journeys are short in duration since they are short in distance. [Table 16], [Figure 15]

Figure 15: Duration of journeys by distance, 2009/2010

7.4 It therefore also makes sense that there has been a change in the proportions of journey durations between 2007 and 2010; those under 10 minutes have decreased and those between 11 and 120 minutes have increased. [Table 6]

Gender and Age

7.5 Average journey length was longer for men than women (12 km and 9 km respectively). This is emphasised by women carrying out more journeys than men that were 5-10 minutes in length and men undertaking more journeys of 31-60 minutes in length. The proportions of other journey lengths were equal for men and women. [Tables 15, 16]

7.6 Those aged 70 and over travelled the shortest distances with 35 per cent of their journeys being less than 1 km. Around half of journeys undertaken by this age group were less than 10 minutes. [Tables 14, 16]

Income and Employment

7.7 Generally, average distance travelled increased with income. This may be due to the fact that those with higher incomes are more likely to be self-employed or employed full time and the average distances for such trips are much higher than for those who work part time, are in education or are not working. Nine percent of journeys carried out by those with incomes less than £10,000 p.a. were 31-60 minutes compared to 14 per cent of journeys by those with incomes over £40,000 p.a. [Tables 15, 16]

Car Access and Licence Possession

7.8 Average distance travelled increased with the number of cars available. Forty per cent of journeys carried out by those with no car available were less than 1 km in length compared to 23 per cent for respondents with one car and 17 per cent for those with 2 or more cars. [Tables 14, 15]

7.9 Licence possession was also an important factor - 44 per cent of journeys undertaken by those with a full licence were at least 5 km compared to less than a quarter with no licence. [Table 14]

7.10 Median distance is dependent on both income and car ownership. [Figure 16]

Figure 16: Median distance^# of journeys by car access and income, 2009/2010

^#Some data points are not shown as they are based on information from the SHS obtained in respect of fewer than 100 people.

Area Type

7.11 Respondents in the two most deprived SIMD quintiles recorded smaller journey lengths than those in the remaining 3. [Tables 15, 16]

7.12 Average distance travelled and proportion of journeys longer than 31 minutes increased with rurality. Over 65 per cent of journeys in urban areas were under 5km compared to less than 45 per cent in rural areas; conversely, less than 10 per cent of journeys in urban areas were 20km or over with around one fifth of rural journeys covering the same distance. [Tables 14, 16]

Mode

7.13 As would be expected, journey distance affected people's decisions on method of travel. Journeys 10km or less were far more likely to be undertaken by sustainable modes (walking, cycling and public transport) than those over 10km (39% vs 12%). Car, either as a driver or passenger, was the most popular travel mode for journeys over 10km. This ties in with the finding at 7.8 which shows distance increasing with car availability. [Figure 17]

Figure 17: Main mode by distance, 2009/2010

7.14 Just over half of car (passenger and driver) journeys were less than 5km; 97 per cent of walking and 78 per cent of cycling journeys covered the same distance. Rail had the highest proportion of journeys greater than 10km - 62 per cent compared to only 18 per cent of bus journeys. Journeys undertaken by 'other' modes had the highest proportion 40km and over, this will be due to the inclusion of aeroplane journeys. [Table 14]

Purpose

7.15 Nearly one third of shopping, escort, education and eating/drinking journeys were less than 1 km, while only 13 per cent of commuting journeys were this distance. The average distance for commuting journeys was 12 km compared to 6 km for shopping trips and 7km for education. [Tables 14, 15]

7.16 Journeys to go home, on holiday/day trip or for business covered larger distances. This is expected as these trips will, by nature, involve origins/destinations further away and often involve travel by rail or other modes such as aeroplane or ferry. [Tables 14, 15]

Time and Day

7.17 The longer the journey, the more likely it was to start before 12 noon. In particular, long journeys showed a correlation with start time - 61 per cent of journeys over 3 hours in duration started before 12 noon compared to approximately one third of those up to half an hour. [Table 17]

Travel between council regions

7.18 The majority of journeys were within council regions for all journeys and commuting journeys. [Table 27, Table 28] Note: This used all data collected since 2000.