Statistical Bulletin: Transport Series: Trn / 2013/ 2: Scottish Household Survey: Travel Diary 2012

8. Distance and mode

• Most car journeys are short. Half of car journeys (drivers and passengers) are under 5km (3 miles).

Figure 6: Boxplot showing distance travelled (kms) for middle 80% of journeys by mode, 2012

Note: For each mode of transport, the middle 50% of journeys are between the top and bottom of the box. The middle journey length is the split in the box, ie half of rail journeys are longer than 12.8 kms and half are less than 20.7 kms. The error bars (black lines) mark the 10th and 90th percentile ie 10% of rail journeys are less than 3.4 kms and 10% are more than 67.8 kms. The dark blue diamond is the average (mean) distance for the mode.

8.1 Most car journeys are short. Half of car journeys (drivers and passengers) are under 5km (3 miles). A quarter are under 2km (1.25 miles). [Table 4a]

8.2 For short journeys most people chose to walk or take the car. For journeys under 1km, 97% use these modes (68% walk and 29% use the car) note that some of these short journeys, particulary those made by car will be as part of another journey eg dropping a child of at school on the way to work. For journeys of 1 to 2kms, 31% walk and 57% use the car. 8% use the bus. [Table 2a]

8.3 Active travel journeys are short, rail journeys are longer. Half of walking journeys are 0.6 kms or less. Half of journeys by bicycle are 2.5 kms (1.5 miles) or less. Half of car journeys are less than 5 kms (3 miles) and half of bus journeys are 4.0 kms or less. Half of rail journeys are less than 21 kms (13 miles). [Table 5a]

8.4 Twenty one per cent of journeys are over 10 kms (6 miles). Sixty nine per cent of rail journeys, just under 30 per cent of car journeys (29% driver and 28% passenger) and 20 per cent of bus journeys are more than 10 kms (6 miles). [Table 4a]