Statistical Bulletin Trn/2005/2
Scottish Household Survey Travel Diary results for 2003
13. Travel within and between council areas ( Tables 18 to 21)
13.1 Journeys between council areas
13.1.1 Table 18 looks at the council area of origin and destination for journeys reported by adults, based on the five years 1999 to 2003 taken together. Councils are grouped as described in paragraph A6.5, in order not to show figures for Councils with "small" sample sizes.
13.1.2 Table 18 (a) gives, for each area of origin, the proportion of journeys to each area of destination. As would be expected, the majority of journeys start and end within the same Council area or grouping of Council areas - for example, 94% of journeys which started in Grampian were to destinations known to be within Grampian (the destination of a further 4% of journeys was not known, but will be in Grampian in most cases). 18% of journeys starting in the Lothians (East Lothian, Midlothian and West Lothian, taken together) are into Edinburgh, and 9% of journeys starting in Edinburgh are into the Lothians. 14% of journeys starting in Dunbartonshire / Argyll & Bute, 14% from Renfrewshire / Inverclyde, 11% from South Lanarkshire and 8% from North Lanarkshire are into Glasgow, and about a fifth of journeys starting in Glasgow are to these areas. The destinations of 3-5% of journeys starting in each of the authority groups were not provided, or were not recorded sufficiently precisely to allow a council area to be assigned. The majority of these are likely to be within the council area of origin, but others may be further afield. The 'Outside Scotland' category covers only other parts of the UK ( see section A2.2). Because of the way in which the SHS is conducted, it will underestimate the proportion of journeys which are made to destinations outwith Scotland, because someone who has (e.g.) gone to England on holiday will not be available for interview at home on the following day. So, the SHS cannot collect details of many journeys made to destinations outwith Scotland.
13.1.3 Table 18 (b) shows a similar pattern of results, looking at, for each area of destination, the proportion of journeys which originated in each of the groupings of council areas. For example, 18% of journeys ending in the Lothians started in Edinburgh, and 9% of journeys ending in Edinburgh started in the Lothians. The similarity of these figures to those in Table 18 (a) implies that the flows into and out of each area are approximately the same, as would be expected.
13.2 Travel to work between council areas
13.2.1 Table 19 looks at travel to the usual place of work of employed adults, excluding those who work from or at home. The figures are based on the answers to a question (in another part of the interview) about the postcode of the place where a person works (or, if that is not known, the name and address of the employer, which the SHS contractors use to obtain the postcode). Hence the sample sizes for each grouping of authorities are smaller than in the previous table, as only one response per employed adult is recorded, rather than the approximately two journeys per adult (employed or otherwise) in Table 18. There is also a slightly higher proportion of entries for some areas of residence for which the council area of the workplace is not known.
13.2.2
Table 19 (a) shows, for each area of residence, the percentage of people who travel to each area for work. Most people work in the same area as they live - for example, 89% of people from Grampian who travel to work do so to a destination which is known to be in Grampian (the place of work of a further 9% was not known, but would be in Grampian in most cases). However, the table demonstrates that the proportion of people who commute into Edinburgh and Glasgow from the surrounding authorities is even higher than the journey flows showed in
Table 18. For example, 38% of employed people in the Lothians who commute travel to work in Edinburgh. 31% of employed people who commute who live in Dunbartonshire / Argyll & Bute travel to Glasgow for work, as do 28% in Renfrewshire / Inverclyde, 21% in South Lanarkshire, and 18% in North Lanarkshire. 12% of employed people who commute who live in South Lanarkshire travel to North Lanarkshire for work, and 11% of such people in North Lanarkshire travel in the opposite direction. Note that all these percentages could be underestimates, due to the Council area of the place of work not being known for between 3% and 9% of commuters from each area.
13.2.3
Table 19 (b) shows, for each area where people work, the proportion who commute from each of the authority groupings. There are no "unknown" or "outside of Scotland" categories in this part of the table, because the postcodes of the residence are known in every case, being used in selecting the sample for the survey. The table shows that only 52% of people who travel to work in Glasgow live in Glasgow. 66% of those who travel to work in Edinburgh live there, 66% who travel to work in North Lanarkshire live there, and 67% who travel to work in South Lanarkshire live there.
13.3 Journeys into and within Edinburgh and Glasgow
13.3.1 Table 20 looks at the characteristics of journeys into and within Edinburgh and Glasgow, during the peak morning period of 7 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., at other times on a weekday, and at weekends. Journeys for the five years 1999 to 2003 are combined, to maximize the sample size.
13.3.2 49% of journeys into and within Edinburgh during the peak morning period are made as the driver of a car or van. A further 7% are made as a passenger, 20% by bus and 18% on foot. Only 2% are made by rail. At weekends, 44% of journeys are made as the driver of a car or van, 18% as a passenger, 20% by foot, and 13% by bus. For journeys into and within Glasgow, a smaller proportion are made by car, and a greater proportion by rail: 42% of journeys which started between 7 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. on a weekday are made as the driver of a car or van, and 8% as a passenger. 19% of such journeys are made by bus, 18% on foot and 9% by rail. At weekends, 36% of journeys are made as the driver of a car or van, 22% by foot, 18% as a passenger, and 13% by bus.
13.3.3 58% of journeys into and within Edinburgh, which started during the morning peak period, and 57% of such journeys into and within Glasgow, are for the purpose of commuting. The patterns for all the purposes, both during the week and at weekends, are very similar for both of the cities. At other times on a Monday to Friday, 22-23% of journeys into and within the two cities are for commuting purposes, 23-26% are for shopping purposes, and 10-12% are for visiting friends or relatives. At weekends, 10% are for commuting purposes, 30-34% are for shopping, and 16-19% are for visiting friends or relatives.
13.3.4 77% of journeys ending in Edinburgh which started during the weekday morning peak period had originated in Edinburgh. A further 14% originated in the Lothians. This compares to 80% of all journeys in the week as a whole which ended in Edinburgh had also started in Edinburgh, and 9% started in the Lothians. A smaller proportion of journeys ending in Glasgow originated there. 60% of journeys ending in Glasgow which started during the morning peak period of 7 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. had originated in Glasgow. 9% originated in Dunbartonshire / Argyll & Bute, 10% in Renfrewshire / Inverclyde, and 13% in Lanarkshire. This compares to 70% of all journeys ending in Glasgow also starting there, 6% starting in Dunbartonshire / Argyll & Bute, 7% starting in Renfrewshire / Inverclyde and 8% starting in Lanarkshire.
13.3.5 This is further reflected by the distances travelled. About 41% of journeys ending in Edinburgh which started during the weekday morning peak period were of 5 km or more. About 34% of all journeys into and within Edinburgh were of a similar distance. About 52% of journeys starting during the weekday morning peak period into and within Glasgow, and 37% of all journeys into and within Glasgow, were of 5 km or more.
13.3.6
Table 21 separates journeys which started outside the two cities from those which started within them. It then looks at the main mode of travel for journeys for shopping, commuting, and for other purposes, for the five years 1999 to 2003 combined. It shows that 64% of journeys into Edinburgh for commuting purposes were as the driver of a car or van, and a further 9% as a passenger. 15% were made by bus, and 5% by rail. For shopping purposes, 52% were as a driver, 24% were as a passenger, 10% were made by bus, and 5% were made by rail. This compares to journeys within Edinburgh, where 41% of commuting journeys were made as the driver of a car or van, 7% as a passenger, 27% were made by bus, and 20% were made on foot. 37% of shopping journeys were made as the driver of a car or van, 14% as a passenger, 18% were made by bus, and 30% on foot.
13.3.7 For journeys into Glasgow, the patterns are similar, but more use was made of rail or bus, and less of the car. 50% of all journeys into Glasgow were made as the driver of a car, compared to 58% of all journeys into Edinburgh. 8% of all journeys into Glasgow were made by train (5% into Edinburgh), and 13% of all journeys into Glasgow were made by bus (11% into Edinburgh). For journeys within Glasgow, more use was made of walking (31% of all journeys, compared to 25% of all journeys within Edinburgh), taxi (4% of all journeys, compared to 2% within Edinburgh). Less use was made of driving a car or van (31% of all journeys within Glasgow, compared to 41% of all journeys within Edinburgh).