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Occasional Paper

Scotland's Census 2001 - Statistics on Travel to Work or Study

Mode of commuting

Table 11A gives details of the main method of travel to work/study for people living in each council area.

People were more likely to travel to work/study by train or underground if they lived in and around Glasgow City (Table 11A).  9 per cent of workers/students living in West Dunbartonshire travelled by train, with the figure only slightly lower (8 per cent) for those actually living in Glasgow City.

Workers/students living in City of Edinburgh were the most likely to travel by bus (27 per cent) although large numbers also travelled by bus in Glasgow City and Eilean Siar (both 25 per cent).  People living in Angus and Moray were the least likely (11 per cent) to use this method of travel to their place of work/study.

People living in Aberdeenshire and the Shetland Islands were the most likely to drive a car or van to work/study (48 per cent).  Those who lived in Glasgow City, City of Edinburgh and Dundee City (27, 30 and 34 per cent, respectively) were the least likely to travel in this way.

Travelling as a passenger in a car/van was most common for people living in Inverclyde, Shetland Islands and West Lothian and least common for those who lived in City of Edinburgh, Glasgow City and Aberdeen City.

Table 11B shows the same information as Table 11A, except that people are classified by the council area in which they worked or studied.

People who worked/studied in Glasgow City were by far the most likely (13 per cent) to travel by train or underground.

Although commuters to City of Edinburgh and Glasgow City were slightly less likely to travel by bus than residents in these city council areas, they were still more likely to travel in this way than people working in any other Scottish local authority areas, with the exception of Eilean Siar.

Just under half of those who worked or studied in West Lothian, Shetland Islands and Aberdeen City travelled there by driving a car or van.  Only 28 per cent of people who worked or studied in East Renfrewshire travelled in this way, the lowest of any council area in Scotland.

Travelling as a passenger in a car/van was most common for people working/studying in East Renfrewshire, East Dunbartonshire and Inverclyde and least common for those who worked or studied in Glasgow City, City of Edinburgh and Aberdeen City.

Around 70 per cent of the gain in “daytime” population for Aberdeen City and Dundee City was accounted for by people driving to work/study by car or van, with 11 and 16 per cent, respectively, accounted for by bus, minibus, coach or taxi travel (Table 11C).

A much lower proportion of the “daytime” population gain for City of Edinburgh and Glasgow City was accounted for by car/van drivers (54 and 51 per cent, respectively).  A further 20 and 13 per cent of the gain in commuters for City of Edinburgh was for people travelling by bus, minibus, coach or taxi and by train, respectively.  These compare with figures of 18 and 24 per cent, respectively, for Glasgow City.