CHAPTER 3: PROFILE OF TRANSPORT SCOTLAND WEBSITE USERS

The vast majority of online survey respondents were male (76%).
Most (85%) of the online survey respondents lived in Scotland. Ten per cent lived in other parts of the UK and the rest from outside the UK.
Twenty two per cent of the online survey respondents worked in the public sector while a further 20% worked in the transport sector.
A third of the online survey respondents had never visited the Transport Scotland website previously. Nineteen per cent used the website at least weekly, while 47% had visited the website before, but did not access it as often as once a week.

3.1 This chapter provides an overview of the demographic profile of respondents to the online survey, including sex, age, geographical region, sector of employment and disability. It also covers frequency of use of the website and ways used to reach the website. As discussed in section 2.12 above, we cannot be sure that the results from the online survey are representative of all Transport Scotland website visitors due to self-selecting nature of the survey. Therefore, the following information is indicative, at best, of visitors to the Transport Scotland website.

3.2 The vast majority of respondents to the online survey were male (76%), while 24% were female.

3.3 As shown in Figure 3.1, 23% of respondents were aged 34 or under, 43% were aged between 35 and 54 and 32% were aged 55 or over.

Figure 3.1: Respondents to the online survey, by gender and age

Base: 496 users of the Transport Scotland website (8 July –26 August 2008)
Source: Ipsos MORI

3.4 As shown in Figure 3.2, the vast majority (85%) of respondents lived in Scotland. Across all respondents, 32% lived in Glasgow and Strathclyde, 20% in Edinburgh and Lothians, 15% in Central Scotland and Fife and 19% in other areas of Scotland. One in ten respondents lived in other parts of the UK and 5% were from outside the UK.

3.5 Twenty-two per cent of respondents worked in the public sector while a similar proportion (20%) worked in the transport sector (Figure 3.2). Twenty-nine per cent were employed in other sectors while 19% were retired and 4% were students. While the categories are not mutually exclusive, the survey was set up so that respondents could only select one answer.

Figure 3.2: Respondents to the online survey by geographical region and sector of employment

Base: 496 users of the Transport Scotland website (8 July –26 August 2008)
Source: Ipsos MORI

3.6 Eleven per cent of respondents to the online survey had a disability or learning difficulty. Due to the small numbers involved the results of the online survey have not been analysed by disability. Instead, the disabled user testing and the website accessibility audit were used to identify problems experienced by people with a disability or learning difficulty when using the Transport Scotland website.

3.7 Among those who reported a disability or learning difficulty, most (35%) reported having physical mobility problems, rather than issues that particularly affect their usage of computers. Four per cent of respondents had severe visual impairments and none had a condition which substantially limited activities such as using a mouse or keyboard. 14% reported deafness and 14% a learning difficulty. 26% preferred not to provide a response to this question.

3.8 As Figure 3.3 shows, 19% had used the website at least weekly over the previous six months and the same proportion had used it once or twice a month. Twenty-eight percent had previously used the website, but only once or twice in the last three months or six months. A third of all respondents were using the Transport Scotland website for the first time.

Figure 3.3: Frequency of use of the website among respondents to the online survey

Q. How often have you used the Transport Scotland website in thelast six months?

Base: 496 users of the Transport Scotland website (8 July –26 August 2008)
Source: Ipsos MORI

3.9 A third of respondents came to the Transport Scotland website via a search engine (Figure 3.4). Among those who used a search engine, the most commonly used search terms were ‘Transport Scotland’ (33%), ‘Concessionary travel/ free bus passes’ (15%), ‘M74 Extension’ (7%) and ‘Upper Forth Crossing’ (5%).

3.10 Twenty-nine per cent of respondents followed a link from another website to get to the Transport Scotland site. Among those who followed a link, the most popular ones were from The Scottish Government website (22%), BBC Scotland website (18%) and the Transport Scotland e-newsletter (9%).

3.11 Around one in five (22%) had the Transport Scotland website stored as a favourite and 13% typed the address in directly.

Figure 3.4: Ways used to reach the website among respondents to the online survey

Q. How did you find the Transport Scotland website today?

Base: 496 users of the Transport Scotland website (8 July –26 August 2008)
Source: Ipsos MORI