3 Driving licence, car ownership and frequency of driving
- Twenty-six per cent of households had access to two or more cars in 2008, whilst 30 per cent had no access to a car.
- Seventy-six per cent of males and 60 per cent of females possessed a full driving licence in 2008.
- Car access increased as annual net household income increased.
- Over three quarters of those living in rural areas drove at least once a week, with over half driving every day.
- Twenty-one per cent of respondents had made a part driving/parking journey in the last month, where they chose to drive only part of the journey. Nine per cent had made a journey where they could have used a Park & Ride facility but chose not to.
Car access and licence possession
3.1 In 2008, 26 per cent of households had access to two or more cars, an increase of 8 percentage points since 1999. [ Table 1]. Conversely, there was a decrease of 7 percentage points from 1999 (37%) to 2008 (30%) in the number of households with no access to a car. (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Household car access by year, 1999 - 2008
3.2 Households with only one adult (single adult, single parent & single pensioner) were the least likely to have access to a car in 2008. In particular, 65 per cent of single pensioner households had no access to a car, compared to 10 - 12 per cent for family households. [ Table 15].
3.3 Over two-thirds of all respondents had a full driving licence in 2008, an increase of 4 percentage points since 1999. This varies with age, increasing from 33 per cent in 17 to 19 year olds to peak at 83 per cent of 40 to 49 year olds, before decreasing back down to 31 per cent of those 80 or over. [ Table 3].
3.4 There is a disparity in driving licence possession with regards to gender, with 76 per cent of males and only 60 per cent of females possessing a licence in 2008. However, due to an increase in percentage of females with a full driving licence since 1999, this gap has decreased from 25 percentage points in 1999 to 16 percentage points in 2008. [ Table 3]. The gender gap is more marked in the older age groups than it is in the younger age groups, which explains why it is decreasing over the years as the population ages. [ Table 16]. (Figure 2).
Figure 2: Adults (aged 17+) with a full driving licence by gender, 2008
Frequency of driving
3.5 Sixty-one per cent of respondents drove at least once a week, and the majority drove on a daily basis (45%), a trend that has been stable since 2003. 1 [ Table 4].
3.6 Employed respondents were more likely to drive every day. In particular, 72 per cent of self employed people drove every day, compared to less than 20 per cent of those unemployed or unable to work due to sickness or disability. [ Table 17].
3.7 Respondents aged 30 to 59 were more likely to have driven every day than younger and older respondents, and men were more likely to have driven every day than women.
Income
3.8 Car access was found to be dependent on annual net household income (Figure 3), i.e. car access increased as income increased. Thirty-eight per cent of those households with up to £10,000 net income per year had access to at least one car, compared to 98 per cent of those in households with over £40,000 net income per year. Thirteen per cent of households in the highest income bracket had access to three or more cars. This may, in part, be due to household type, with high earning household more likely to contain two or more adults. [ Table 15].
Figure 3: Household car access by annual net household income, 2008
3.9 Household income was also a factor in whether a person holds a full driving licence, with 41 per cent of those in the lowest income bracket (up to £10,000 per year) holding a licence, compared to 91 per cent of those in households earning over £40,000 per year. [ Table 16].
3.10 Those in high income households were more likely to drive at least once a week. Eighty-eight per cent of those in households with an income of over £40,000 per year drove at least once a week compared to 31 per cent of those in households earning up to £10,000 per year. [ Table 17].
Urban/rural
3.11 Forty-one per cent of households in large urban areas had no access to a car. This is more than double that of rural areas. This may reflect the necessity of a car in more rural areas in order to have access to services, such as food shopping and medical facilities. [ Table 15].
3.12 Half of respondents living in large urban areas drove a car at least once a week. Over three quarters of those living in rural areas drove at least once a week, with over half driving every day. [ Table 17].
Comparisons with Great Britain
3.13 The National Travel Survey 2008 ( NTS08) 2 showed similar patterns for GB. Twenty-five per cent of households in GB had no access to a car and 32 per cent had access to two or more cars. It also found car ownership increased as income increased and that those living in rural areas were more likely to own a car than those in urban areas.
3.14 At GB level, 72 per cent of households had a full driving licence, with men more likely to own a licence than women (81% and 65%, respectively, 2008 NTS) and 30 to 59 year-olds were the most likely group to own a licence (82-83%).
Park & Ride
3.15 In 2007 new questions were added to the survey on Park & Ride use in Scotland. Park & Ride facilities allow drivers to park at dedicated car parks and continue the rest of their journey via public transport, such as bus or train. In most cases either the parking or the bus/train fare are free. Due to small sample sizes, responses on Park & Ride from both the 2007 and 2008 Scottish Household Survey have been combined in order to produce more robust results.
3.16 One in five respondents had made a journey in the last month where they chose to drive only part of the way, and completed their journey using another form of transport. Of these, 28 per cent parked in a designated Park & Ride facility and a further 28 per cent used an ordinary car park at a bus or train station or airport. (Figure 4) [ Table 18]
Figure 4: Where parked last time used part driving/parking, 2007-2008
3.17 Nine per cent of respondents had made a journey where they could have used a Park & Ride facility but chose not to. The main reason for not using the Park & Ride was that the journey would take longer.
3.18 Half of those who had made a part driving/parking journey continued their journey by train, 29 per cent used the bus and 16 per cent walked to their destination. This varied depending on the location that they parked, with almost half of those who used a designated Park & Ride facility continuing their journey by bus compared to only 8 per cent of those who chose to park in an ordinary car park at a bus or train station or airport. Those who parked on the street (not near a station or bus stop) were more likely to walk to their destination than to take the bus or train. (Figure 5). [ Table 19].
Figure 5: Mode of transport used to complete part driving/parking journey, 2007-2008
