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Transport and travel overview

Active, sustainable travel is good for population health and for the environment. If people walk, cycle and use public transport more and drive less, road-transport-related carbon emissions will reduce and there will be health benefits from reduced air and noise pollution, and increased physical activity. Public health leaders, policy makers and politicians have highlighted the importance of greater investment in sustainable, integrated transport to promote active travel, to create safe, attractive communities, to reduce carbon emissions and improve air quality. Yet many transport trends are moving in the wrong direction – road traffic continues to increase and transport-related carbon emissions have not reduced in the last 30 years. 

Transport infographicClick here to download the transport infographic.

  • The number of licensed motorised vehicles in Scotland has more than doubled from 1.3 million in 1975 to over three million in 2021 (a rise of 135%).
  • Glasgow has the largest traffic volume of Scotland’s local authorities.
  • 41% of Glaswegians commute to work by car (as driver or passenger), 30% by public transport (by bus, train or underground) and 27% walk or cycle.
  • Only a small proportion of people cycle to work (1.6% - Census, 2011).
  • However, trips into and out of the city centre by bike have increased by 165% between 2009 and 2021 [an average increase of 14% annually], while pedestrian trips into the city centre increased by 19% [2% annually] in the period 2009-2018, but dropped sharply during the pandemic and have not fully recovered since then (Cordon Count Survey, 2021).
  • In 2022, 54% of school children in the city travelled to school by active means, mostly by walking (48%), while a few cycled (3.2%) or skated/scootered to school (2.5%). Levels of walking to school have dropped by 6% since 2008 and 26% of children are driven to school.
  • There are wide variations in the levels of active travel between schools – from 9% to 96% across Glasgow primary schools (Hands Up 2008).
  • Adult and child road-accident casualties have been reducing over time but casualties remain higher in the most-deprived areas compared to the least-deprived areas.

(Sources: Census 2011, Scottish Transport Statistics, Glasgow City Centre Cordon Count, Hands Up Survey (2016), Stats19, SMR01)

This section presents data analyses from a number of data sources to provide information on travel behaviour and transport in Glasgow, in order to highlight positive and negative trends and to help identify future priorities for action.

The data on the Understanding Glasgow website comes from a variety of administrative sources and surveys, and the frequency of updates to these sources varies. The graphs and text on each page should indicate the period to which an indicator refers. In some cases, where more recently published data is not available, we still use older published sources, such as the 2011 Census.