Introduction

This publication presents statistics on transport and travel for disabled people in Scotland. It includes data for the Accessible Travel Framework’s outcome indicators.

The main source of data for this publication is the Scottish Household Survey. Additionally, some of the outcome indicators use data from the Your Bus Journey and Rail User surveys carried out by Transport Focus, as well as further sources.

The Scottish Household Survey and its disability questions

The Scottish Household Survey (SHS) is an annual survey of the general population. It collects information on a range of topics using a random sample of people in private residences in Scotland. It is a voluntary and interviewer-led survey. The survey covers a number of topics relating to transport and travel, including a ‘travel diary’, which involves respondents recounting the details of all of the journeys they made the day before their survey interview.

As the survey only samples private residences, people in accommodation such as hospitals and care homes are not included. The groups not covered by the survey are estimated to form 0.5% of Scotland’s population, although disabled people may be over-represented in this group.

Further information on the SHS is provided in the supporting information section.

Scottish Household Survey definition of disability

As part of the survey, a randomly selected adult is chosen from each participating household. This ‘random adult’ is then asked a range of questions, including the questions on transport and travel which are analysed within this publication.

The survey uses two questions to determine whether the random adult is disabled:

Question RG5A

Do you have a physical or mental health condition or illness lasting or expected to last 12 months or more?

  • Yes
  • No
  • Don’t know
  • Refusal

Question RG5B

Does your condition or illness reduce your ability to carry-out day-to-day activities?

  • Yes, a lot
  • Yes, a little
  • Not at all

If a person answers ‘Yes’ to the first question and ‘Yes, a lot’ or ‘Yes, a little’ to the second, then they are considered disabled. This is in line with the Equality Act 2010 definition and the approach taken by most large-scale surveys in Scotland and the UK.

Since 2022, the following question has been asked of the randomly chosen adult in order to gather more information on the nature of their condition or illness:

Question RG5C

Does your condition(s) or illness(es) affect you in any of the following areas?

  • Vision (for example blindness or partial sight)
  • Hearing (for example deafness or partial hearing)
  • Mobility (for example walking short distances or climbing stairs)
  • Dexterity (for example lifting and carrying objects, using a keyboard)
  • Learning or understanding or concentrating
  • Memory
  • Mental health
  • Stamina or breathing or fatigue
  • Socially or behaviourally (for example associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) which includes Asperger’s, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD))
  • Other
  • Refused

This represents a change from the equivalent question included in the survey prior to 2022, which used different categories of conditions. The categories used previously can be found in the Disability and Transport 2021 publication.

In addition, prior to 2022 the question was not asked of the random adult, but was instead asked of the ‘highest income householder’. The ‘highest income householder’ is the individual in the household with the highest income, or their partner (this may or may not be the same person as the random adult). As part of the survey, they are asked a number of general questions about the household. Prior to 2022, this included describing any health conditions that household members had.

These changes mean that it is not possible to combine the 5 most recent years of data, as had been done in previous editions of this publication. Instead, the data in the main tables are now based on the years of data available since these changes were made (2022 and 2023).

There is no question asking for detail about health conditions for children. We only have data on whether or not they have a health condition. We do not know whether their day-to-day activities are limited or not.

Your Bus Journey Survey and Rail User Survey Definition of Disability

In their analysis of the two surveys, Transport Focus apply a different definition of disability than is used in the analysis of the Scottish Household Survey.

The definition used in the Transport Focus analysis is essentially whether respondents had a long term physical or mental health condition. It does not apply the second element used in the Scottish Household Survey definition, which requires that the long term health condition reduces the individual’s ability to carry-out day-to-day activities.

As a broad indicator of the difference between the two definitions of disability, in the Scottish Household Survey 82% of people with a long-term condition had their ability to carry out activities reduced.