Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 January 2026
352. Deputy Maeve O'Connell asked the Minister for Transport if his Department has data for the number of people cycling and walking rather than taking a car or public transport for each of the years 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, in tabular form. [6510/26]
View answerAs Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to Active Travel. Funding is administered through the National Transport Authority (NTA), who, in partnership with local authorities, have responsibility for the selection and development of specific projects in each local authority area.
In terms of Active Travel, there are several sources of data for the number of people cycling and walking rather than taking a car or public transport; however these data sources mainly measure transport mode share rather than changing transport habits which would demonstrate modal shift from car or public transport use to active travel modes.
The primary source of national data available is through the National Household Travel Survey which was previously carried out by the NTA every four years, but moved to an annual basis since 2022. This Survey provides a comprehensive picture of daily travel habits of Irish residents. This Survey shows that mode share has remained largely static since 2018, per table below.
|
|
2018 |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
|
Walking |
18% |
19% |
18% |
18% |
|
Cycling |
3% |
2% |
2% |
2% |
|
Public Transport |
5% |
5% |
5% |
5% |
|
Driving |
73% |
73% |
74% |
74% |
Other data sources look at more specific areas, such as the Walking and Cycling Index (WACI). This is an independent survey based on local walking and cycling data and modelling and is the largest assessment of walking and cycling in Ireland's five cities. The WACI is produced every 2 years by Sustrans in partnership with the NTA. The first report was carried out in Dublin only in 2021, and was widened to include Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford in 2023.
The 2025 reports are due for publication towards the end of Q1 2026. This means that comparative data is only available for Dublin. This shows that the percentage of people who cycle at least once a week has remained static at 25% in both 2021 and 2023, while there has been an increase in the number of people walking or wheeling at least once a week from 64% in 2021 to 71% in 2023. Interestingly, this survey also measures people's attitudes to transport, and the 2023 report showed that 49% of respondents wanted to walk or cycle more while 23% wanted to drive less.
Lastly, the NTA's annual Canal Cordon report is an annual study tracking how people commute into Dublin city centre. The following table outlines the results of this study for the years 2018-2023 inclusive by active travel, bus and car; other modes including taxi, goods vehicles, motorbike are not included below:
|
|
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
|
Walking |
23,858 |
24,691 |
9,235 |
13,103 |
16,951 |
17,820 |
|
Cycling |
12,227 |
13,131 |
4,756 |
7,597 |
9,486 |
9,406 |
|
Bus |
1,837 |
1,852 |
1,683 |
1,663 |
1,642 |
1,669 |
|
Car |
48,820 |
46,388 |
35,041 |
39,088 |
40,207 |
39,698 |
