Motorists clock up 150m fewer miles in their cars

SCOTLAND’S love affair with the motor car is waning, with Scots increasingly leaving their vehicle in the garage and taking public transport or walking instead, new statistics have revealed.

The Scottish Executive’s transport survey shows that Scots drove 150 million fewer miles on major roads last year than in 2004, down by 1 per cent and only the second drop since the oil crisis of the 1970s. In contrast, rail and bus journeys were up and walking and cycling were more popular.

Experts said huge rises in fuel costs, increasing congestion on the roads, coupled with increasing investment in public transport and growing awareness of the environment was behind the change. But with car drivers still running more than 14 billion vehicle miles on A-roads and motorways last year, environmentalists warned that much still needed to be done.

George Hazel, a professor of transport policy at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, said increasing Executive and local authority investment in public transport, coupled with an increased public awareness about climate change, has led to more people abandoning cars.

Scotsman.com