Travel has returned to pre-pandemic levels in Scotland, but satisfaction in public transport is still lagging behind levels seen in 2019, according to official data.
Responses to the Transport and Travel in Scotland survey, which looked at Scottish travel habits in 2024, have shown that 73% of people travelled the day before they were interviewed for the survey, an increase from the 64% seen in 2023 and equal to levels reported in 2019.
Over half of journeys made in 2024 (51%) were made by driving a car or van, with walking the next most common mode at 25%. Following these, car or van passengers accounted for 12% of journeys, with 7% made by bus and 2% made by rail.
Transport Scotland also found that the number of people working from home decreased between 2023 and 2024 (29% to 25%), but noted that it was still above levels seen in 2019 (16%).
For public transport, there was no change in public satisfaction, with 64% saying that they were very or fairly satisfied in both 2023 and 2024. Whilst this is higher than the 58% seen in 2022, it still remains 4% less than pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
Rural areas saw the lowest level of satisfaction in public transport, with those in remote and accessible rural areas having 43% and 41%, respectively, which is a stark contrast to the 75% satisfaction seen in large urban areas.
In active travel, people were less willing to cycle, with 1.4% of journeys under 5 miles made by bicycle in 2024, a decrease from 2.1% in 2023.
Full details of the report can be found here.
