3. Cars, buses and bicycles(Tables 1, 11, A, B, and C; Charts A-C)
3.1 The interviewer asks about any cars normally available for private use by members of the household. Table 1 shows the results for 2005. The first row of the table shows that, in 2005, 32% of households did not have a car available for private use, 44% had one car, 20% had two cars, and 3% had three or more cars - so, just over two-thirds (68%) of households had one or more cars. The numbers in italics at the right-hand end of the first row show that these results are produced from the answers given for 15,395 households. Table A shows the results for each of the years 1999 to 2005 separately.
3.2 Availability of cars
3.2.1 Table 1 shows that the availability of cars differed greatly between types of household: for example, in 2005 only 30% of single pensioner households, and 48% of single parent households, had one or more cars, compared with 89% of small family households. 20% of large adult households had three or more cars. The next block of figures shows considerable variation with socio-economic classification (households are counted on the basis of the socio-economic classification of the Highest Income Householder - the classification used is described in section A.7): for example, only 64% of households where the highest income earner is in a routine occupation had a car, compared with 91-92% of households where the highest income earner is in a managerial or professional occupation, or is a small employer or sole trader. About 47% of "higher managerial and professional" households had two or more cars. There was also considerable variation with annual net household income: only 38% of households with a net income of up to £10,000 per year had at least one car, compared with 99% of households with a net income of over £40,000 per year. About 73% of the households with an annual net income of over £40,000 had two or more cars. Chart A illustrates how car availability rises as household income increases.
3.2.2 The next part of Table 1 shows how the position varies between different areas. 44% of households in the most deprived 20% of the areas within Scotland (as identified by the 2004 version of the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation, which uses information about average incomes, dependency on benefits, health, education, access to services, etc.) have one or more cars, compared to 86% in the least deprived areas. Further details of the S.I.M.D. classification are given in section A.11. Differences are also shown between those living in "urban" and "rural" areas, using a six-way classification that was developed for the analysis of the SHS results. In this classification, a "small town" has a population between 3,000 and 9,999 (inclusive), and an area is described as "accessible" if it is within 30 minutes drive of a settlement with a population of 10,000 or more (otherwise it is described as "remote"). A "large urban area" is a settlement with a population of 125,000 or more. Further details of this classification are given in section A.12. In 2005, 58% of households in large urban areas had cars compared with 84-85% of those in rural areas.
3.2.3 The next two blocks of figures in Table 1 show that there is variation with property type and tenure. Only 44% of "flat or maisonette" households had access to a car in 2005, whereas 93% of "detached" households had access to a car. 75% of households living in a property that was owned outright, and 90% of those buying with a loan or mortgage, had access to a car, compared to 35% of households who say that they are renting from local authorities or "Scottish Homes", and 29% of those renting from a housing association.
3.2.4 Table A shows that the proportion of households having access to one or more cars has increased over the years (from 62.9% in 1999 to 67.9% in 2005) and an increase in those having access to two or more cars (from 17.8% in 1999 to 23.5% in 2005). Chart B shows how car availability varies between 1999 and 2005.
3.3 The accessibility and frequency of bus services
3.3.1 The SHS interviewer asks how long it would take him/her to walk to the nearest bus stop (or place where one can get on a bus). Table 1 shows that in 2005, 85% of all households were said to be up to 6 minutes walk away from a bus stop. The interviewers also asked about the frequency of service at the nearest bus stop (or place that one could get on a bus). Overall, 25% of householders said that there was at least one bus every 13 minutes. There was a considerable difference between urban and rural areas. 89-90% of households in urban areas were said to be within a 6 minute walk of a bus stop compared to 61% of households in "remote" rural areas. The frequency of the service was said to be better in large urban areas, with 44% of households saying there was at least one bus every 13 minutes, in contrast to 1% or less of those in "remote" rural areas and "remote" small towns.
3.3.2 Table B shows that there have only been small variations between the figures for different years. The percentage of households that were said to be within a 6 minute walk of a bus stop varies slightly over the years but no real trend can be seen. The frequency of the service appears to have improved over the years, with 19.7% of households in 1999 saying there was at least one bus every 13 minutes, compared with 24.9% of households in 2005.
3.3.3 More detailed tables on the accessibility and frequency of bus services appear in the "Bus and Coach Statistics" series of bulletins, along with information from other sources on buses and coaches.
3.4 Bicycles which can be used by adults
3.4.1 The interviewer asks whether the household has any bicycles which can be used by adults. Table 1 shows that, in 2005, 35% of households had one or more bicycles. This percentage varied greatly with the type of the household, from 6% for single pensioner households to 66% for large family households (see Chart C). It also varied with socio-economic classification (from 34% for "routine occupation" households to 54-56% for "managerial and professional" households) and with annual net household income (from about 15% of households with up to £10,000 per year to 70% of those with £40,000 or more).
3.4.2 Looking at different types of area, 20% of households in the most deprived 20% of areas had bicycles which adults could use, compared with 46% in the least deprived 20% of areas. 26% of households in large urban areas had bicycles which adults could use, compared with around 40-41% of those in SHS-classified small towns and 47-50% in rural areas. For different types of property: 54% of households living in detached houses had bicycles which adults could use compared with 21% of "flat or maisonette" households.
3.4.3 Table B shows that there have been small changes to the proportion of households with access to one or more bicycles between 1999 and 2005, but that no clear trends have emerged.
3.5 Households' reported expenditure on fuel for cars
3.5.1 The Highest Income Householder (or his/her spouse/partner) was asked about the amount spent on fuel for all cars the household normally has available for private use in the month prior to the interview. This excluded any expenditure met by an employer or business. The answer was often a rough estimate, "off the top of the head": large percentages of households reported "rounded" values like £30, £40, £50 and £60. Therefore, SHS results can only be a rough guide as to individual households' actual expenditure on fuel for cars. However, if one takes account of those who did not spend anything on fuel for cars, one obtains an overall average for all households which is not too far below the Office for National Statistics' estimate of the average weekly household expenditure on motor vehicle fuel (which includes fuel for motorcycles and vans) which appears in "Scottish Transport Statistics".
3.5.2 The levels of expenditure referred to here relate only to those households who reported how much they had spent in the previous month on fuel for cars. Households who had not spent any money on fuel, or who would not say, or did not know, how much they had spent, are not counted for the purposes of calculating the figures in Table 11. For households with more than one car, the total of the amounts spent on fuel for all cars in that household was requested.
3.5.3 For those households who reported expenditure on fuel, Table 11 shows the average (arithmetic mean) amount spent for each group and also the median amount spent, as the latter is more like a "typical" amount spent by each group. The median is the middle value: half the households in the group will have spent no more than the median, and half will have spent no less. The average (arithmetic mean) might give a misleading impression due to the effect of a small number of households spending a large amount on fuel for cars in the past month. The medians are expressed in terms of whole pounds because the interviewers asked for estimates to the nearest pound.
3.5.4 In 2005, the amount spent on fuel in the month prior to the interview varied with the economic status of the highest income householder. Those households where the highest income householder was self employed or employed full-time spent a median £80 per month on fuel, compared with £40 where the highest income householder was permanently retired from work or permanently sick or disabled.
3.5.5 The average (mean) and the median amounts spent on fuel tend to rise steadily with annual net household income: from an average of about £57 per month (a median of £40) for households with an annual net income of up to £10,000, to around £130 (a median of £100) for households with incomes of over £40,000. The amount spent on fuel also differed between types of areas. 11% of households in large urban areas which reported expenditure on fuel spent £150 and over per month on fuel in contrast to 20% of such households in "remote" rural areas and 24% of households in "accessible" rural areas. As one would expect, the amount spent on fuel rises with the number of cars the household had access to: from a median of £50 per month for households with access to one car, to £130 for households with access to three or more cars.
3.5.6 The figures for different years should be compared with caution, because of a change to the questionnaire. From 1999 to 2001, the survey collected information about expenditure on fuel for "motor vehicles", approximately 95% of which were cars. The question was dropped in 2002, to make "room" for questions on more useful topics, and when reinstated, in a simplified form, in 2003, related only to expenditure on fuel for cars. Table C shows the average (mean) amount recorded rose from about £75 per month in 1999 to around £84 in 2000 and fell to £78 per month in 2003, then rose to £97 per month in 2005. The pattern is similar to that of the average prices of petrol and diesel (in June of each year), which appear in "Scottish Transport Statistics", which show a rise in 2000, a fall in 2001, 2003 prices below the level of 2001, then a rise in 2004 and 2005. However, the median amount spent did not change between years (£60).
Chart C: Households' transport facilities
Chart D: People (aged 17+) with full driving licences, and who drive every day
