7. Walking And Cycling

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

Walking

Of all journeys reported in the SHS travel diary, 21 per cent had walking as the main mode, a decrease from 24% in 2016. Twelve per cent of adults usually walk to work and 52 per cent of children usually walk to school as their main mode of transport. The percentages walking to work or school were the same as in 2016. [Tables 7, 15, TD2 & SUM1]

The average (median) walking journey was 0.9 km using road network distance. [Table TD5a]

Questions on frequency of walking [Tables 3 and 25] and reasons for not walking [Table 43] are asked biennially and were not included in the 2017 survey. The most recently available tables are included in the statistical tables section of this publication.

Cycling

The estimated distance cycled on all roads is estimated to be 290 million vehicle kilometres in 2017, similar to the 288 vehicle kilometres in 2016. [DfT Road Traffic Estimates: Great Britain 2017] Traffic estimates indicate only the broad level of traffic and are estimated based on a small cross-section of Scottish roads. Year-on-year comparisons should be made with caution.

3.0% of adults usually cycle to work, compared to 2.6 per cent in 2016. 0.9% of children cycled to school, compared to 1.4% in 2016. [Tables 7, 15 & SUM1]

The average (median) cycling journey was 2.7 km using road network distance. [Table TD5a]

Questions on frequency of cycling [Tables 3a and 25a] are asked biennially and were not included in the 2017 survey. The most recently available tables are included in the statistical tables section of this publication.

Bicycle access

A third (34%) of households had access to at least one bicycle for adult use in 2017. Nineteen per cent had access to two or more. [Table 18]

Household access to bikes increased with household income and household size; 60% of households with an income of £40,000 or more have access to one or more bikes, compared to 16% of households with an income up to £10,000. Bicycle access was higher in rural areas than urban areas. [Table 18]