5. Public transport: bus service accessibility and frequency; the convenience and quality of public transport; frequency of use of local bus and train services; users' views on aspects of local bus services; safety from crime when travelling by bus or train in the evening; and possession and use of concessionary fare passes
5.1 Whether there was a bus service, and the walking time to the nearest bus stop - households
5.1.1 The SHS interviewer asks the householder how long it would take the interviewer to walk to the nearest bus stop (or place where one could get on a bus). The left-hand part of Table 6 shows the results. (The groupings shown in the table headings are used to avoid uncertainty about how answers like "around 5 minutes" are counted.) In 2005/2006, 55% of households were said to be up to 3 minutes walk from the nearest bus stop, and 31% were 4-6 minutes walk from a bus stop. 9% of householders reported a 7-13 minutes walk, and only 3% said that the interviewer would have to walk for 14 minutes or longer. Just 1% of householders did not know how long it would take, and another 1% said that there was no bus service.
5.1.2 Table 6 also shows that whether there was a bus service and (if so) the walking time to the nearest stop differs greatly between urban and rural areas. 12% of householders in "remote" rural areas said that they had no bus service, as did 3% in "accessible" rural areas. A further 14% of householders in "remote" rural areas, and 12% in "accessible" rural areas, said that it would take at least 14 minutes to walk to the nearest bus stop (or place where one could get on a bus). Therefore, the percentage of householders who said either that they had no bus service or that they would have to walk at least 14 minutes to the nearest bus stop was about 26% for "remote" rural areas and about 15% for "accessible" rural areas, in contrast to just 1-2% in urban areas and small towns. The percentage within 3 minutes walk of a bus service was only 37% in "remote" rural areas, and 45% in "accessible" rural areas, compared with 55-59% in other types of area.
5.1.3 Chart D and Table 6 show large differences between Council areas. The percentage of householders who said that they did not have a bus service was highest in Orkney (25%) followed by Highland and Shetland (both 6-8%). Aberdeenshire, Argyll & Bute, Eilean Siar, Highland, Moray, Orkney and Shetland (all 8-12%) had the highest percentages of householders who said that it would take at least 14 minutes to walk to the nearest bus stop (or place where one could get on a bus). Overall, the percentage who said either that they had no bus service or that they would have to walk for at least 14 minutes to the nearest bus stop was about 34% for Orkney, around 18% for Shetland, roughly 17% for Aberdeenshire, 15% for Highland and 10-12% for Argyll & Bute, Dumfries & Galloway and Moray; among the RTPs, the figure was highest for Zetland (18%) and Highlands & Islands (13%). Only 26% of Orkney householders, and 39% of those in East Renfrewshire, said that that it would take no more than 3 minutes to walk to the nearest bus stop. In contrast, at least 43% of householders in every other Council area (rising to 63-66% in Aberdeen, Eilean Siar, Falkirk, Fife, Inverclyde and Perth & Kinross) said that they were within 3 minutes' walk of the nearest bus stop.
Chart D: Households with no bus service, or with a 14+ minute walk to the nearest bus stop
(or place one can get on a bus): 2005 and 2006
5.2 Frequency of bus services - households
5.2.1 The interviewer asks about the frequency of service at the nearest bus stop (or place one could get on a bus). In cases where the householder said that the frequency of service varied, the interviewer asks for the week-day off-peak frequency. The right-hand part of Table 6 analyses the answers (the interviewer does not try to check them). 24% of householders did not know how often one could get a bus from the nearest stop during the day (this figure does not include those who said that they did not have a bus service). This percentage was highest in "remote" small towns (39%) and lowest for large urban areas (19%): other types of area had figures of 26-28%. Chart E shows that the percentages of householders who said that they did not know the frequency of service ranged from 10-11% in Aberdeen and Edinburgh, and 13-14% in Midlothian and Perth & Kinross, to 34-38% in Argyll & Bute, Eilean Siar, Moray, Scottish Borders, Shetland and West Lothian. RTP areas' figures ranged from 20% for North-East to 36% for Zetland.
5.2.2 Overall, 24% of householders said that there were at least five buses per hour, 23% said 3-4 per hour, 24% said 1-2 per hour, and 4% that the buses were less frequent (this last category does not include those householders who said that they did not have a bus service). 34% of householders in "remote" rural areas said that there was fewer than one bus per hour, as did 13% in "accessible" rural areas, compared with under 1% in urban areas. The percentage reporting fewer than one bus every hour was highest for Orkney, Eilean Siar and Shetland (all 37-39%), and for Argyll & Bute and Highland (17-20%); the RTPs with the highest figures were Zetland (37%) and Highlands & Islands (19%).
5.2.3 44% of householders in large urban areas reported at least five buses per hour, compared with small percentages in small towns and rural areas. At most 4% of householders in Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll & Bute, Clackmannanshire, Dumfries & Galloway, Eilean Siar, Highland, Moray, Orkney, Scottish Borders, Shetland and West Lothian said that there were at least five buses per hour, compared to 42-51% in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Renfrewshire. Of the RTPs, Strathclyde (31%) and North-East (27%) had the highest figures.
5.3 Availability of bus services - households
5.3.1 Table 7 provides some information about the combination of the walking time to the nearest bus stop and the frequency of service there. The left hand part of Table 7 covers households with walking times to the nearest bus stop of up to 6 minutes. Overall, about 85% of households were within 6 minutes walk of a bus stop, and they included 22% with at least five buses every hour, 20% with 3-4 buses per hour, 21% with 1-2 buses per hour, 3% with a less frequent service, and 19% where the respondent did not know the frequency of the bus service. About 10% were within 7-13 minutes walk of a bus stop, and 3% lived more than 14 minutes walk away.
5.3.2 Again, there were considerable differences between urban and rural areas. 41% of households in large urban areas were said to be within 6 minutes walk of a service with a frequency of at least 5 buses every hour, compared with very small percentages of those living in small towns and in rural areas. The percentage was highest for Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow (all 44-49%); twelve Council areas had values below 5%.
5.3.3 While few households in urban areas lived within 6 minutes walk of an infrequent service (fewer than one bus every hour), 9% of households in "accessible" rural areas and 24% in "remote" rural areas did so. The percentage living close to an infrequent service was particularly high for Eilean Siar, Orkney and Shetland (all 28-31%).
Chart E: Householders who didn't know the frequency of the nearest bus service, or who said that there was no bus service: 2005 and 2006
5.3.4 Table 8 compares the figures for the four two-year periods. In general, the overall figures for Scotland did not change greatly: the most striking change was the increase from 18% to 22% in the percentage of households within six minutes walk of a bus service whose frequency was at least 5 buses per hour (and the falls in the percentages with less frequent services). This percentage rose most in large urban areas (from 33% to 41%), and in the North-East RTP area (from 13% to 26%), and by 3-4 %-points in the South-East and Strathclyde areas, with little change in other areas (where the changes were smaller and/or based on smaller samples, so were less likely to be significant statistically). In addition, the percentage of households who were living within six minutes walk of a bus stop and did not know the frequency of service rose from 15% to 19% for Scotland as a whole, with increases in every type of area and every RTP area.
5.4 Views on the convenience and quality of public transport - adults (16+)
5.4.1 The randomly-chosen adult member of the household is asked about the convenience of public transport and of some other types of services (such as post office, doctor's surgery, etc). The interviewer says: "… please tell me how convenient or inconvenient you would find it to make use of their services during their normal opening hours, assuming that you needed to". The left-hand part of Table 9 shows how the "convenience" of public transport was rated in 2005/2006: overall, 50% of adults said it was "very convenient", 34% described it as "fairly convenient", 3% responded "neither convenient nor inconvenient", 3% had no opinion, 5% thought it "fairly inconvenient" and a further 4% felt it was "very inconvenient".
5.4.2 As with the availability of bus services, there is a marked difference between urban and rural areas. This is illustrated in Chart F. 61% of adults in large urban areas regarded public transport as "very convenient" compared with only 24% of those in "remote" rural areas and 25% of adults in "accessible" rural areas. Aberdeen (76%) and Edinburgh, Glasgow and Renfrewshire (62-63%) had the highest percentages describing public transport as "very convenient", compared with just 14% in Perth & Kinross and 23-26% in Orkney and Shetland. It can be seen from Table 10 that, among the RTPs, North-East (58%) had the highest figure, and Zetland (26%) the lowest.
5.4.3 Table 9 shows that public transport was rated "very inconvenient" by 20% of adults in "remote" rural areas and 13% of those in "accessible" rural areas; in rural areas, a further 13-14% said "fairly inconvenient". 22% of adults in Orkney, and 12-16% in Aberdeenshire, Highland, Scottish Borders and Shetland said that public transport was "very inconvenient", and a further 11-16% felt that it was "fairly inconvenient".
5.4.4 The randomly-chosen adult is also asked about aspects of the immediate neighbourhood: which, if any, does he/she particularly like; and which, if any, does he/she particularly dislike? The interviewer probes to establish the person's views, and can record one or more of many "likes" (including "good public transport", "area well maintained", "safe area/low crime", "friendly people" and "good local schools") and "dislikes" (such as "poor public transport", "problems with dogs", "poor local shops", "drug abuse" and "noise"). The right-hand part of Table 9 shows that, overall, 19% said that good public transport was an aspect of the neighbourhood that they liked, and 5% said that poor public transport was an aspect that they disliked.
Chart F: Views on the convenience of public transport: 2005 and 2006
Chart G: Views on public transport as an aspect of the neighbourhood: 2005 and 2006
5.4.5 Chart G shows that the percentage referring to good public transport was highest in large urban areas (28%) and lowest in "remote" rural areas (3%). 37% of adults in Edinburgh felt that "good public transport" was one of the aspects of their neighbourhood that they liked, as did 31-32% in Glasgow and Perth & Kinross and 26% in West Dunbartonshire, compared with at most 5% in Aberdeenshire, Eilean Siar, Highland, Moray and Shetland. It can be seen from Table 10 that the RTP with the highest figure was South-East (23%). Table 9 shows that "poor public transport" was one of the aspects of their neighbourhood that was disliked by 13% of adults living in "accessible" rural areas and 11% in "remote" rural areas. Among the Council areas, the highest percentages referring to poor public transport were in Orkney (20%) and Aberdeenshire, Midlothian, Scottish Borders and Shetland (all 9-11%).
5.4.6 Table 10 compares the figures for the four two-year periods. The sets of figures for Scotland as a whole for the first three periods are similar. However, between 2003/2004 and 2005/2006, the percentage saying that public transport was "very convenient" rose from 41% to 50%, with rises in all the different types of area, and all the RTP areas. There was a less marked increase (from 16% in 2003/2004 to 19% in 2005/2006) in the percentage of adults saying that good public transport was an aspect of the neighbourhood that they particularly liked, due to rises in all the types of area and almost all the RTP areas.
5.5 Use of local bus and train services - adults (16+)
5.5.1 The interviewer asks how often the randomly-chosen adult used the local bus service in the past month. The left-hand part of Table 11 gives the results. In 2005/2006, 12% said that they had used their local bus service "every day, or almost every day", 12% "two or three times per week", 8% "about once a week", 12% "about once a fortnight, or once a month", and 56% had not used their local bus service in the past month - so 44% had done so. Use was highest in large urban areas, where 18% of adults said "every day, or almost every day" and 58% had used their local bus service in the past month, and lowest in "remote" rural areas, where 3% used the bus "every day, or almost every day" and only 20% had used it in the past month. Of the Council areas, Edinburgh had the highest percentage using the local bus service "every day, or almost every day" (25%) or at any time in the past month (74%), followed by Glasgow (19% and 60% respectively) and Aberdeen (16% and 59% respectively). The RTPs with the highest figures were South-East (14% and 49% respectively) and Strathclyde (14% and 47%). In contrast, only 9% of adults in Orkney and 18% in Shetland had used their local bus service in the past month.
5.5.2 The randomly-chosen adult is asked a similar question about train services. The right-hand side of Table 11 shows that 2% said that they used a train service "every day, or almost every day" and 19% had used a train in the past month. Again, usage was higher in urban areas than in rural areas. 32-38% of adults in East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Inverclyde and West Dunbartonshire had used a train in the past month, as had 27% of adults in the Strathclyde RTP area.
5.6 Views on local bus services - adult (16+) users of bus services
5.6.1 Adults who said that they had used a local bus service in the past month are asked for their views on eleven aspects of local bus services. The interviewer says "to what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements? Generally, when I use the bus …". Table 12 shows the results. The figures for "remote" small towns, "remote" rural areas and some Council areas may be subject to large sampling errors because these areas had few bus users in the sample.
5.6.2 Most users of local bus services agreed with each of the statements: ranging from 66% who agreed that "the fares are good value" to 89% who felt that "the range and price of tickets is easy to understand". For example, 74% agreed that ("generally, when I use the bus…") "the buses are on time", 81% that "the buses are frequent", 75% that "the buses are clean", 78% that they are "comfortable", 80% that "finding out about routes and times is easy", and 86% felt "personally safe and secure" on the bus.
5.6.3 In general, bus users' views did not differ greatly between types of area: for six of the eleven aspects, the range of values spanned only 5-13 %-points (e.g. the percentage agreeing that "the service is stable and isn't regularly changing" varied between 80% in large urban areas and 89% in "remote" small towns, a range of 9 %-points). The five aspects for which there were big differences between the types of area were:
- "the buses are on time" - from 71% in large urban to 88% in "remote" rural;
- "the buses are frequent" - from 57% in "remote" rural to 85% in other urban;
- "the service runs when I need it" - from 60% in "remote" rural to 78% in other urban;
- "the buses are clean" - from 72% in large urban to 90% in "remote" small towns; and
- "it's easy changing to other forms of transport" - from 57% in "remote" rural to 76% in other urban.
"Remote" small towns had the highest percentages for five of the eleven aspects, and large urban areas had the lowest percentages for six aspects.
5.6.4 The percentages vary much more between Council areas, in part because some of them are based on small samples. However, it is noteworthy that:
- Argyll & Bute, Eilean Siar, Orkney and Shetland are the only areas for which more than 90% of users agreed that "the buses are on time";
- Orkney and Shetland had the lowest percentages for "the buses are frequent" (55% and 64% respectively) and "the service runs when I need it" (59% and 56% respectively);
- only 55% of bus users in Glasgow and 58% in East Dunbartonshire agreed that "the buses are clean";
- only 57% of bus users in East Dunbartonshire agreed that "the buses are comfortable";
- only 77-80% of users in East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Glasgow, Renfrewshire and West Dunbartonshire felt "personally safe and secure on the bus";
- only 29% of bus users in Dumfries & Galloway and 45% in Scottish Borders agreed that "it's easy changing to other forms of transport";
- only 47-50% of bus users in Aberdeen and Clackmannanshire agreed that "the fares are good value".
Among the RTPs, Strathclyde had the lowest percentage for five of the eleven aspects, and Zetland had the highest percentage for seven of them.
5.7 Perceptions of safety from crime when travelling by bus or train in the evening - adults (16+)
5.7.1 The interviewer asks to what extent the randomly-chosen adult feels, or would feel, safe from crime when travelling by bus or train in the evenings ("say between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m.").
5.7.2 The left hand part of Table 13 shows the results for bus travel. Overall, 14% of adults said that they felt, or would feel, "very safe" from crime when travelling by bus in the evenings, 41% felt "fairly safe", 15% felt "not particularly safe", 8% felt "not safe at all", and 22% said that they did not know. The "don't know" percentage was highest in rural areas and "remote" small towns (all 29-33%). The percentage who felt "very safe" rose from 11-12% in urban areas to 31% in "remote" rural areas; the percentage feeling "not safe at all" fell from 9-10% in urban areas to 2-3% in "remote" small towns and "remote" rural areas.
5.7.3 The percentage who felt, or would feel, "not safe at all" was highest in Dundee (22%) and Angus and West Dunbartonshire (18-19%). East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, Inverclyde, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire and South Lanarkshire all had values in the range 10-14%, and it was 11-12% in the Strathclyde and Tayside & Central RTP areas. The percentage who felt, or would feel, "very safe" was under 10% in twelve Council areas; "don't knows" ranged from 10-11% in three Council areas to 60% in Shetland.
5.7.4 The right-hand part of Table 13 shows the equivalent results for travel by train in the evenings: 11% felt, or would feel, "very safe", 36% "fairly safe", 14% "not particularly safe", 8% "not safe at all", and 31% did not know. Again, the "not safe at all" percentage was highest in large urban areas, and the "very safe" and "don't know" percentages were highest in "remote" rural areas; Dundee and West Dunbartonshire (both 22%) and Angus (19%) had the highest "not safe at all" percentages, and seven Council areas had values in the range 10-15%; it was 11-12% in the Strathclyde and Tayside & Central RTP areas; Orkney and Shetland had 96-97% saying "don't know".
5.8 Possession and use of a concessionary fare pass - adults aged 60 and over
5.8.1 Adults who are aged 60 or over, or who have a long-standing illness, health problem or disability that limits their daily activities, are asked whether they have a concessionary travel pass. The arrangements for concessionary travel, and therefore the form of the question, changed during the period covered by the figures. Up to March 2006, there was a national minimum standard of free off-peak local bus travel for elderly and disabled people in Scotland. On 1st April 2006, a National Concessionary Fares scheme was introduced which allows elderly and disabled people free travel on all scheduled bus services in Scotland (with no geographical or peak-time restriction). Because there are relatively few concessionary travel pass holders aged under 60, the results in Table 14 relate only to people who were aged 60 and over.
5.8.2 The right-hand side of Table 14 shows that, overall, 82% of people aged 60+ held a concessionary travel pass, ranging from 67% in "remote" rural areas to 85-87% in urban areas. The differences between Council areas appear greater (but may be exaggerated by sampling variability, as the smallest Council areas had only a couple of hundred people aged 60+ in the sample), with the range being from 63-66% for Dumfries & Galloway, Orkney and Stirling to 90-91% for Glasgow, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire and Renfrewshire; for the RTPs, the range was from 64% for South-West to 87% for Strathclyde.
5.8.3 The left-hand side of Table 14 shows how often the concessionary travel pass was said to be used. Overall, the 82% who held a pass comprised 4% who said that they used it every day, 9% who used it almost every day, 18% who used it 2-3 times per week, 9% once a week, 5% once a fortnight, 8% once a month and 28% who said that they had a pass but did not use it. The percentage who said that they had a pass but did not use it was lowest (21%) in large urban areas, and highest (36-38%) in "remote" small towns and "remote" rural areas. Shetland (57%), Eilean Siar (43%) and Argyll & Bute and Orkney (both 40%) had the highest percentages saying that they had a pass and did not use it (these figures could be subject to quite large sampling errors, as each is based on interviews with only a couple of hundred people). The percentage who said that they had a pass and did not use it was lowest in Aberdeen City and Edinburgh (14-17%).
5.8.4 The percentage who said that they had a pass and used it "every day" was highest in Edinburgh and Glasgow (9-10%); the percentage who said that they had a pass and used it either "every day" or "almost every day" was highest in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Renfrewshire and West Dunbartonshire (20-27%); among the RTPs it was highest for South-East and Strathclyde (16-17%). Several Council areas had small percentages saying that they had a pass and used it every day or almost every day.