Transport and Travel in Scotland 2014

7. Walking And Cycling

This section contains analysis and headline findings from the Scottish Household Survey questions on cycling and walking (including the Travel Diary part of the survey).

Cycling

Distance cycled on all roads is estimated to have increased from 329 million vehicle kilometres in 2013 to 339 million vehicle kilometres in 2014. [DfT traffic estimates 2014] Traffic estimates indicate only the broad level of traffic, so year-on-year comparisons should be made with caution as they are estimated based on a small cross-section of Scottish roads.

One per cent of journeys had cycling as the main mode of transport, a similar proportion to 2013. [Table SUM1 & TD2] The average (mean) cycling journey was 4.4 km in length. [Table TD5a]

Just less than three (2.6) per cent of adults usually cycle to work, compared to 2.5 per cent in 2013. Just less than two per cent (1.7%) of children cycled to school. [Tables 7, 15 & SUM1]

Figure 3: Percentage of adults reporting cycling at least once per week by age, 2014

When asked why they don't cycle to work, the main reason given was 'it's too far' (33%) followed by 'too many cars on the road' (18%). Sixteen per cent don't cycle because of bad weather and twelve per cent said that traffic travelled too fast. [Table 26]

Bicycle access

A third (34%) of households had access to at least one bicycle for adult use in 2014. Nineteen per cent had access to two or more. [Table 18]

Household access to bikes increased with household income and household size (two thirds of households with an income of £40,000 or more have access to one or more bikes). Bicycle access was higher in rural areas than urban areas. [Table 18]

Walking

Twenty five per cent of journeys reported in the SHS travel diary had walking as the main mode of transport. Thirteen per cent of adults usually walk to work and 51 per cent of children usually walk to school as their main mode of transport. [Tables 7, 15, TD2 & SUM1]

The average walking journey was 1.1 km in length. [Table TD5a]

Two thirds of people had walked as a means of transport on at least one day in the previous week. Twenty two per cent had walked as a means of transport on 6-7 days. More than half (58%) of people had walked for pleasure at least once in the last week. [Table 3a]

Frequency of walking decreased with age (81% of those aged 16-19 had walked to go somewhere in the last week, compared to 39% of those aged 80+). [Table 25a]

Figure 4: Percentage reporting walking at least once per week by age, 2014

When respondents were asked what discourages them from walking more, the main reasons given, other than nothing (57%) were health and weather (both 15%). [Table 43]