Scottish Government

4 Use of local bus service

• 12 per cent of respondents used their local bus service regularly
• Bus use decreased as household income increased
• Respondents who drove their car every day were significantly more likely to have not used the bus in the previous month
• 12 per cent of respondents travelled to work by bus, a trend stable since 1999
• Men were significantly less likely to travel to work by bus than women

General bus use

4.1 In 2007, 12 per cent of respondents used their local bus service regularly (almost or every day), a stable trend since 1999 ( Table 27). The percentage not using the bus in the previous month had fallen 4 percentage points since 1999 to 55 per cent in 2007.

4.2 Eighteen per cent of respondents travelled by bus in the evening in 2007 compared to 23 per cent in 2001.

Age and gender

4.3 Adults aged 16 - 29 were the most likely to have regularly used the bus in the previous month (20 - 25 per cent). Young women (16 - 19) were much more likely to regularly use their local service than young men (32 per cent and 19 per cent, respectively). [ Table 32].

4.4 Gender had little effect on any other aspect of regular use (Figure 5).

4.5 Respondents aged 16 - 29 were the most likely to use the bus in the evening and 80+ were the least likely. [ Table 43].

Employment status, income and car ownership

4.6 Respondents who were self-employed were the least likely to have used the bus in the previous month and respondents classified as unemployed and in further/higher education were the most likely to have used the bus in the previous month (73 per cent and 35 - 36 per cent, respectively). [ Table 32].

4.7 Bus use decreased as household income increased, i.e. low income households (annual net income below £10,000 p.a.) were much more likely to have used the bus in the previous month than high incomes households (annual net income above £40,000 p.a.).

4.8 Unsurprisingly, respondents who drove their car every day were significantly more likely to have not used the bus in the previous month than respondents who held a licence but never drove (76 per cent and 30 per cent, respectively).

Urban/rural classification

4.9 Respondents who lived in rural areas were more likely to have not used the bus in the previous month than respondents who lived in large urban areas (75 - 80 per cent and 39 per cent, respectively; Figure 6). This may be directly linked to the bus service provisions in rural areas. [ Table 31].

Figure 5: [ SHS: Use] Adults (16+) who had used their local bus service regularly in the past month, 2007 ¹

Figure 6: [ SHS: Use by LA] Percentage of adults who have used bus regularly by Local Authority, 2005/06

Travel to Work

4.10 In 2007, 12 per cent of respondents travelled to work by bus, a trend stable since 1999. Three-fifths of respondents who travelled to work by car (either as a driver or passenger) stated that they could not use public transport for that journey. This has increased 5 percentage points since 1999. [ Table 23].

Age and Gender

4.11 Young respondents (16-29) were the most likely to have travelled to work by bus than other respondents. Young respondents were also the least likely to say it would not be possible to travel by public transport if they usually drove. [ Table 33].

4.12 Men were significantly less likely to travel to work by bus than women (10 per cent and 14 per cent, respectively).

4.13 Men who travelled to work by car were significantly more likely to say it was not possible to travel to work by public transport than women (65 per cent and 56 per cent, respectively). However, it is not possible to determine from the data whether or not this is due to a real difference in the locations of men and women's workplaces or due to other factors, e.g. child care arrangements.

Income and Deprivation

4.14 Bus travel to work decreased as income increased, similar to the trend already noted above (paragraph 4.7). However, income had little effect on the percentages of car commuters stating that they could not use public transport.

4.15 A similar trend is noted with deprivation, i.e. less deprived households travel more by car than by bus to work. There is also very little difference with deprivation and whether or not car commuters could use public transport.

4.16 This suggests that the choice of higher income households/less deprived households to not use public transport more is largely a lifestyle choice.

Travel to School

4.17 In 2007, just over one in five children travelled to school by bus, a relatively stable trend since 1999. [ Table 24].

Age and Gender

4.18 The percentage of children travelling to school by bus was not dependent on the gender of the child but was dependent on the age of the child. [ Table 34].

4.19 Primary aged children (ages 4 - 11) were significantly less likely to travel to school by bus than secondary aged children (ages 12 - 18). This may be down to the age of the child and the location of schools, i.e. primary schools are usually nearer home than secondary schools.

Urban/rural classification

4.20 Respondents in rural areas were much more likely to travel to school by school bus than other areas (33 - 46 per cent and 6 - 19 per cent, respectively). This may be directly linked to the fact that households in rural areas may be spread over relatively large areas and hence a dedicated school bus is required or may due to the lower level of service provisions in rural areas.

Bus use by day and time

4.21 In 2006 ², just over one in ten journeys recorded in the Travel Diary were made by bus. This represented a small 2 percentage rise on the 1999 figures (11 per cent and 9 per cent, respectively). There were fewer journeys made on a Sunday than any other day of the week, a stable trend since 1999. [ Table 25].

4.22 Combining all data from the Travel Diary since 1999 it is possible to analyse journeys by time of day. Weekday journeys before 9:30am were dominated by commuting journeys and before 7am these account for 88 per cent of all bus journeys made. [ Table 35].

4.23 Before 9:30am journeys are dominated by the working population (20 - 59) but after the morning peak and before the evening peak, bus journeys are dominated by respondents aged 60 - 79, i.e. mostly retired respondents. The evening peak (4:30 - 7pm) is then again dominated by the working population.

4.24 Around 91 per cent of all bus journeys in 2005/06 reported no delays to bus journeys and there was very little variation in the degree of delay experienced and day of the week. [ Table 37].