Statistical Bulletin: Transport Series: Trn / 2013/ 2: Scottish Household Survey: Travel Diary 2012
4. How are people travelling?
Around half of all journeys in 2012 were made as a driver and over a third were by public and active travel, which includes walking, cycling and public transport.
Figure 2: Mode of journey, 2012
1 The questionnaire was changed in 2012 and as a result more walking journeys are now recorded so the data shown in this chart are not directly comparable with 2011.
4.1 Taken as a whole, 37 per cent of journeys were made by public and active travel in 2012. This is an increase compared to previous years but direct comparisons cannot be made due to changes in survey methodology resulting in an increased reporting of walking journeys. [Table 2] [Figure 2]
4.2 Sixty-one per cent of journeys were made by car or van (either as driver or a passenger) in 2012. This is a reduction from the 2011 figure but changes in methodology have resulted in increased recording of walking journeys. [Table 2]
Car Occupancy
4.3 Average car occupancy decreased from 1.61 in 2002 to 1.51 in 2012. In a related measure, the percentage of car stages made with the driver as the sole occupant of the car increased by 5 percentage points to 64% over the same period. [Table 9]
4.4 This is probably due to the increase in car availability over this period2. Previous analysis has also suggested that car occupancy varies with journey purpose3. Given the proportion of journeys for commuting has risen since 2007 and commuting journeys report the lowest car occupancy, this may also have contributed.