A nationwide study of Ireland’s travel habits has confirmed the ongoing dominance of car travel with almost 7 in 10 trips being made by car last year.
The National Household Travel Survey found that 69 per cent of all trips are made in a private car with walking the next most popular transport mode at 20 per cent followed by bus or coach at 5 per cent.
The level of car usage has only decreased slightly from similar previous surveys carried out in 2012 and 2017 when the rate was 70 per cent and 71 per cent respectively.
However, the latest survey found significant differences in travel patterns between people living in Dublin city and its surrounding suburbs and those living in rural areas.
Car usage levels fell to 53 per cent in Dublin compared to 80 per cent among rural dwellers.
In contrast, only 9 per cent of people living in rural areas walked compared to 32 per cent of those living in the capital and its suburbs.
The survey which was commissioned by the National Transport Authority examined the travel habits of over 10,500 individuals from over 4,300 households recording details of 58,000 trips made over a two-day period.
It showed just 2 per cent travel by train or tram with another 2 per cent taking trips by bicycle.
Work/business is the main reason for travel, accounting for 20 per cent of all journeys followed by education at 19 per cent which was just ahead of social reasons including entertainment, sport or going to a pub or restaurant at 18 per cent and shopping at 17 per cent.
The proportion of people travelling for work or business reasons is lowest among people living in Dublin at 17 per cent which the NTA said was likely to be linked to people working from home.
The survey revealed that almost half of all journeys are less than 5km with 7 in 10 trips less than 10km.
It also highlighted that 3 in 10 trips nationally take between 15 and 29 minutes with a quarter of trips taking less than 10 minutes.
Trips which take longer than one hour accounted for 7 per cent of all journeys.
Almost half of all journeys (48 per cent) take less than 15 minutes.
The survey found almost three-quarters of all participants live within a 15-minute walk of a shop.
In addition, two-thirds live within a 15-minute walk of a pub, restaurant and bus stop.
However, one in five respondents said they did not live within a 15-minute walk of a range of facilities including shop, chemist, post office and doctor’s surgery.
A majority of rural dwellers said they did not live within walking distance of all those amenities.
Walking has the highest participation rate among 25-34 year olds with 27 per cent of that age cohort using walking as a mode of transport.
Walking is at its lowest level among 45–54-year-olds at 15 per cent who are also the age group most likely to travel by car.
Cycling peaks at 3 per cent among 15–34-year-olds and declines to 1 per cent among those aged over 45.
The survey found that 54 per cent of people nationally do not have a public transport ticket including 68 per cent in rural areas.
In contrast, three-quarters of all people in Dublin have a Leap card or free travel pass.
The NTA said the comparatively low rates of public transport usage at national level reflected the fact that bus and train services were not universally available and are dependent on location.
It said the survey, which will be conducted annually in future instead of every five years, will enable the NTA, the Department of Transport and other State agencies and policy makers to track the progress towards targets set out in the Climate Action Plan 2023 and the National Sustainable Mobility Policy.
