Public transport not the ticket with Scottish households: Survey

Public transport satisfaction is at the lowest level recorded by the Scottish Household Survey, with just 65% of Scots pleased with the services.

Satisfaction with Scotland’s public transport in 2018 dropped 4%, hitting the lowest level since the survey began in 2007.

The annual survey, which polled more than 10,000 households, revealed less than two-thirds of respondents were fairly or very satisfied with the public transport system – a fall from 75% in 2014.

There was also a huge gulf between satisfaction levels in rural and urban areas, with just 46% of people in remote areas content with buses and trains compared to 77% in Scotland’s bigger towns and cities.

Analysis of the trips people made in 2018 found more than half of journeys in Scotland (53%) were by car or van.

Drivers are also increasingly alone in their vehicles, with the proportion of car trips without any passengers rising from 56% in 1999 to 66% in 2018.

After driving, walking was the most popular method of getting around, with 20% of journeys made on foot last year – a drop of 6% in the last six years.

With almost two-thirds of Scottish adults now viewing climate change as “an immediate and urgent problem”, the number of Scots who have bought, or would consider buying, an electric car rose from 36% in 2016 to 44% last year.

Concern over how far electric cars would last was reported as the main issue putting 46% of people off buying, while 41% said the availability of charging points was also a major concern.

Responding to the decline in satisfaction figures, Transport Secretary Michael Matheson said the Scottish Government “is fully committed to delivering a sustainable, accessible and fairer transport system”.

He added: “We are investing more than £1 billion in public and sustainable transport each year, the number of rail journeys continues to increase and last week’s Programme for Government included a commitment of £500 million for bus priority measures.”