Scottish Government Equality Outcomes: Religion and Belief Evidence Review

7 TRANSPORT

7.1 This section reports the sources that have been checked, although little evidence has been found.

7.2 The Scottish Government's user strategy for the National Transport Strategy^[26] does not address religion. The Scottish Household Survey (SHS) Travel Diary reports on age and gender^[27], but not religion due to small sample sizes.

7.3 Similarly, the authors of the Equalities Impact Assessment (EQIA) for Scotland's cycling strategy^[28] "do not have any information specific to religion and cycling. Anecdotally, we have heard that there may be specific cultural issues regarding Muslim women being made to feel uncomfortable about cycling as it was not seen as compatible with a modest dress code". The authors do not seek to make any further assessments of religion and cycling, stating that existing information is adequate and that no policy changes are required.

7.4 The EQIA for ferry services in Scotland^[29] recorded no actions to be taken with regard to religion. It noted that the issue of whether there should be Sunday sailings for Lewis and Harris was raised during the consultation process: the mixed views included the view that there should not be Sunday sailings on religious grounds. It concluded, however, that "the evidence suggests that the ferries plan will not impact particularly positively or negatively on this group".

7.5 The Scottish Government's review of equality statistics^[30] investigates the possession of driving licences. Combining Scottish Household Survey data from 2001 to 2005, it shows that adults aged 17 years and over who classify themselves as belonging to an Other Christian religion group are most likely to possess a driving licence (72%) - see Figure 11. This compares to 55% of adults classifying themselves as Roman Catholic. However for most religion groups there are no marked differences in the proportion of adults who hold a driving licence. Across all religion groups and those with no religion, it can be seen that the proportion of people with a full driving licence increases markedly between the ages of 17 to 29 years and 30 to 39 years. After the age of 40 to 49 years, the proportion of those with a full driving licence starts to decline for the remaining age groups. It should be noted that factors other than religion - such as income, employment, residence in urban or rural areas - are also likely to affect the chances of holding a driving licence.

Figure 11: People (Aged 17 Years & Over) With a Full Driving Licence, by Religious Group, Scotland, Scottish Household Survey 2001 to 2005 Combined. (Source: High-level summary of equality statistics, 2006)

Notes:

1. Survey data have been combined for each year from 2001 to 2005, due to small sample sizes for certain religion groups in each given year.

2. Other Religions includes Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, Sikh and "Another religion". Sample sizes for these religion groups are too small to break down further.