1 Main Points

Motor vehicles, traffic and driving

1.1 The estimated total volume of traffic on Scotland's roads in 2012 was over 43 billion vehicle kilometres - 0.4 per cent more than in 2011 and the first increase since 2007. [Table S1]

1.2 In 2012 there were around 216,000 new vehicle registrations in Scotland, an increase of 7 per cent on 2011, the largest increase in the last ten years. [Table S1]

1.3 There were 2.7 million motor vehicles licensed in Scotland in 2012, a one per cent increase on 2011 and 17 per cent higher than in 2002. [Table S1]

1.4 68% of people aged 17 or over had a full driving licence in 2012, the highest figure for the last decade. [Table S3]

1.5 Driving licence possession varies with age. Seventeen to 19 year olds have the lowest rate of licence possession (28%) with the rate increasing with age to peak at 80 per cent of 40 to 49 year olds, before decreasing back down to 37 per cent of those 80 or over. [Table 1]

1.6 Males were more likely to hold a full driving license than females (76% vs. 62%); male licence possession has been fairly stable whilst female possession has been steadily increasing over the last decade. [Table S3]

1.7 Twenty-six per cent of households had access to two or more cars in 2012, whilst 31 per cent had no access to a car. The proportions have remained similar over the last five years. [Table S3]

1.8 One in five respondents had made a journey in the last month where they chose to drive only part of the way, and completed their journey using another form of transport. Of these, 29 per cent parked in a designated Park & Ride facility and a further 29 per cent used an ordinary car park at a bus station, train station or airport. [Table 21]

1.9 Half of households spend £100 or less on fuel for their cars each month, the same amount as in 2011. Households reported an average spend of £134 on fuel for their cars in the past month - an increase of £34 over the last three years. [Table 2]

Public transport, ferries and aviation

1.10 More people are using trains. ScotRail patronage increased by 2.7 per cent (to 83.3 million) in 2012/13 - the highest level recorded and an increase of 45% since 2003/04. [Table S1]

1.11 Twenty-eight per cent of respondents to the SHS used the train in the last month, up from 26 per cent in 2011 and an increase from 15 per cent in 2002. Forty two per cent used a local bus in the last month. [Table S3]

1.12 The majority of people are satisfied with public transport. Seventy-two per cent of people were satisfied or very satisfied in 2012. This is a fall from 76 per cent in 2011 and higher than in 2007 (69%). [Table 4]

1.13 Most people agreed that it was easy to change from buses and trains to other forms of transport (82% for trains and 75% for buses) and to find out route and timetable information (91% for trains and 84% for buses). [Table 29]

1.14 Younger people and women are more likely to use the bus. Two thirds of 16-19 year olds had used the bus in the last month, compared to one third of those aged 40-49. 45 per cent of women had used the bus in the last month compared to 38 per cent of men. [Table 28]

1.15 Fifty-five per cent of those aged 60 or over used their concessionary pass at least once a month. Thirty-four per cent have a pass but haven't used it. Twelve per cent have no pass. [Table 32]

1.16 There were 22.2 million air terminal passengers at airports in Scotland in 2012. An increase of less than one per cent on 2011. [Table S1]

1.17 The number of passenger journeys from Scottish airports to destinations outwith the UK was higher than the number of internal flights for the first time (10.21m compared to 10.05m) [Table S4]

1.18 Forty-six per cent of SHS respondents took a flight for leisure purposes in 2012 and 8 per cent for business.

1.19 In 2012, 5.5 million passengers were carried on Caledonian MacBrayne, Northlink Orkney and Shetland and Orkney ferry services, a fall of 2.5 per cent from 2011. [Table S1]

Walking and cycling

1.20 Thirty-five per cent of households had access to at least one bicycle for adult use in 2012. This proportion has remained stable over the last decade. [Table S3]

Travel to work and school

1.21 Thirty per cent of respondents travelled to work by public or active transport, continuing the trend of little change in recent years. This figure provides an update to the indicator used in the Scottish Government's National Performance Framework which is considered to be 'performance maintaining'. [Table S3]

1.22 Active travel accounted for 16 per cent (walking: 13.6%, cycling: 2.0%) and public transport 14 per cent (bus: 10.1%, rail: 4.3%) of all journeys to work in 2012. [Table S3]

1.23 Fifty-two per cent of all journeys to school were made by walking or cycling in 2012. The levels have remained relatively stable over the last ten years. [Table S3]

1.24 Children in primary school were more likely to walk or be driven to school than children in secondary school. Secondary school pupils are more likely to catch a bus. [Table 15]

Access to services

1.25 Eighty-four per cent of respondents felt that public transport was very or fairly convenient to access in 2012. [Table 33]

Freight

1.26 The amount of freight lifted in Scotland continues to fall. Excluding road transport, freight lifted fell 3% to 64.9 million tonnes in 2012.

1.27 Two thirds of freight lifted in Scotland was transported by road in 2010 (the latest year for which road freight data is available).