Key Findings
This publication represents our first opportunity to compare pre-pandemic (2019) and post pandemic (2022) travel habits using the Scottish Household Survey. The versions of the survey run in 2020 and 2021 are not comparable with other years due to methodological changes necessitated by the pandemic.
People travelled less in 2022 than they did in 2019.
In 2022, 61% of people had travelled the day before their survey interview. This is well below the 2019 figure of 74%, and the lowest comparable figure recorded since the current version of the travel diary was introduced in 2012. The average number of journeys made the day before the survey interview dropped from 1.9 in 2019 to 1.5 in 2022.
When people did travel, the share of journeys made by each mode in 2022 was broadly similar to 2019.
55% of journeys were made by driving a car or van, up slightly from 53% in 2019. Walking was the next most popular mode of transport (23% of journeys), followed by 11% as car passenger, 6% by bus, 2% by cycling, and 2% by rail.
When people did travel, the share of journeys made for each purpose in 2022 was broadly similar to 2019.
Shopping was the most frequent reason for travel (23% of journeys). Commuting was the next most common at 21% of journeys.
There have been changes in levels of homeworking and commuting.
31% of employed people reported that they currently worked from home in 2022. This compares to 16% in 2019.
The proportion of people who reported travelling to work 5 days a week dropped from 62% in 2019 to 38% in 2022.
When people do travel to work, the share of commuting journeys made by each mode is similar to 2019.
Amongst those that travelled to work, 68% per cent of people usually went by car or van, either as a driver (64%) or passenger (4%).
Satisfaction with public transport dropped in 2022.
The proportion of all survey respondents stating that they were very or fairly satisfied with public transport in 2022 was 58%, a ten percentage point drop from 2019 (68%)
Satisfaction with public transport was higher amongst actual users of public transport (those that had used bus or train in the past month) with 67% of users reporting that they were satisfied in 2022. However, this also represented a drop in satisfaction compared with 2019 (76%).
There was an increase in respondents who owned an electric vehicle.
4.1% of driving licence holders reported owning an electric vehicle. This is an increase from 1.6% in 2019 and 0.3% in 2016.
In 2022, there was an increase in respondents giving the costs surrounding electric vehicles as a reason for not considering buying an electric car/van.
The proportion of respondents giving the cost of vehicle purchase as a reason not to consider buying increased from 36% in 2019 to 52%, and the proportion of respondents highlighting running costs as a reason not to buy increased from 7% to 13%
The proportion of respondents giving battery (i.e. the distance travelled on charge) as a reason not to consider buying an electric car/van dropped from 46% in 2019 to 39% in 2022.
The number of short journeys by active travel has not changed substantially since 2019.
As part of Scotland’s National performance framework there is a ‘journeys by active travel’ National Indicator, which monitors the proportion of short journeys that are made by the two main active travel modes: walking and cycling.
For 2022, the proportion of journeys under two miles made by walking (46.2%) and the proportion of journeys under 5 miles made by cycling (2.1%) are not statistically different from the figures for 2019 (47.6% and 1.7% respectively). A formal assessment of performance on this National Indicator will be made on the National Performance Framework website.