Survey shows travel in Scotland back to pre-pandemic levels

New figures published by Transport Scotland suggest Scotland’s travel patterns have largely returned to pre-Covid levels.

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The latest Transport and Travel in Scotland statistical release, based on data from the Scottish Household Survey, shows that 73% of people had travelled on the day before their interview in 2024. This marks a rise from 64% in 2023 and is in line with the 2019 figure. The average number of daily trips per adult also recovered, rising to 1.96 from 1.59 in the previous year, broadly matching the 2019 average of 1.94.

Car use continued to dominate travel choices. Just over half of recorded journeys (51%) were made by driving a car or van, while walking accounted for 25%. A further 12% of trips were made by car or van passengers. Bus travel represented 7% of journeys, and rail 2%.

Patterns of homeworking also shifted in 2024. The proportion of employed people saying they worked at or from home fell to 25%, down from 29% in 2023 but still higher than the 16% reported in 2019.

Public transport satisfaction remained stable year on year. Sixty-four per cent of respondents said they were very or fairly satisfied with public transport in both 2023 and 2024. While higher than the 2022 figure of 58%, satisfaction remains below the 2019 level of 68%. The survey highlights notable geographic variation: satisfaction was lowest in remote rural (43%) and accessible rural (41%) areas, compared with 75% in large urban areas.

Electric vehicle ownership continued to rise. In 2024, 5.8% of driving-licence holders reported owning an electric vehicle—up from 1.6% in 2019 and 0.3% in 2016. Despite this growth, reluctance to consider an electric vehicle also increased. Fifty-six per cent of drivers said they would not consider buying one, the highest level since the question was introduced in 2016. Concerns most commonly cited were availability or convenience of charging infrastructure (52%), purchase cost (50%), and battery range (49%).

Transport Scotland’s full statistical report, including detailed tables, is available on its website.