High Level Summary of Statistics Trend Last update: Saturday, May 17, 2008
Car Occupancy
Most cars on the road have only one person in them. The Scottish Household Survey (SHS) asks adults about their journeys on the day before the interview. In 2005/2006, 60% of journeys which were made as the driver of a car were made unaccompanied, 27% were made with one passenger, 8% with two passengers, 3% with three passengers, and 1% with four or more passengers. As a result, the average number of people per car journey was 1.58.
The chart shows that car occupancy varied greatly with the purpose of the driver's journey. Eighty five per cent of car drivers who were commuting travelled alone, only 4% had three or more people in the car, and the average number of people in the car was only 1.20. Eighty two per cent of car driver journeys in the course of business were made unaccompanied, with an average car occupancy of 1.22. In contrast, of car drivers' journeys to eat or drink, only 25% were unaccompanied or had three or more people in the car, and the average occupancy was about 2.2 people per car.
Car occupancy also varied with the start time and the day of the week of the journey. The driver was the sole occupant of the vehicle for 80% of car journeys starting before 7 a.m., and for 72% starting between 7 a.m. and 9.30 a.m., compared with 60% overall. The driver was unaccompanied in 64% of car drivers' journeys during the week, and 48% at weekends.
Car occupancy appears to have fallen since the SHS started in 1999. The proportion of journeys made as the driver of a car in which the person was unaccompanied has increased from about 56% to about 60%, and the average number of occupants for car journeys reported by the driver has decreased from 1.68 to 1.58.
Source: Scottish Household Survey Travel Diary Results
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