In 2019, the degree of urbanisation of the area in which the respondent resided did have a bearing on their choice of mode of travel and travel by car was their preferred choice. In thinly populated areas, over eight in every ten (83.8%) of journeys were by car – 73.7% where the respondent was driving and 10.1% where they were a passenger. By comparison, persons residing in densely populated areas, six in every ten (61.7%) journeys were by car – 54.3% as driver and a further 7.4% as passenger. See Table 2.2 and Figure 2.2.

In densely populated areas, the choice of public transport (bus/rail/DART/Luas) was substantially greater than in intermediate density and thinly populated areas. In densely populated areas, one in eight (12%) of journeys taken were by public transport – 8.6% of journeys were by bus, 2.5% were by DART/Luas and 0.9% by rail. By comparison, in thinly populated areas, only 1.7% of journeys were by bus and 0.2% by rail. See Table 2.2 and Figure 2.2.

Nearly one in five (19.2%) of journeys in densely populated areas were where the respondent chose to walk to their chosen destination, compared to just one in twelve (7.8%) journeys taken by residents in thinly populated areas. For persons residing in intermediate density areas, just one in seven (14.2%) journeys involved walking as a mode of travel.  See Table 2.2 and Figure 2.2.

Persons living in Dublin were significantly less likely to drive than those in the rest of the country. In 2019, over half of all journeys by Dubliners (54.9%) were by car as driver compared with nearly seven in every ten (69.2%) journeys taken by those living in the rest of the country. In Dublin, use of the bus as a mode of transport was substantially greater than in the rest of the country – 8.5% compared to 3.3% for all regions outside of Dublin. Dubliners’ travel by private car as driver was substantially lower than in all other regions in 2019. See Tables 2.3, 2.4 and Figure 2.3.

Over one in five (21.1%) of journeys made by Dubliners were by walking or cycling, compared to just one in every eight (12.4%) journeys taken by persons living outside of Dublin. Persons residing in Dublin were significantly more likely to walk as a mode of travel – 17.6% of Dubliners compared to just 11.7% in the rest of the country. Similarly, 3.4% of persons living in Dublin cycled to their chosen destination, compared to just 0.7% of journeys for persons living in regions outside of Dublin. See Table 2.3.

In 2019, more journeys were likely to be by car as driver for journeys of 15 minutes or less (69.9%).  Public transport (bus, rail, DART or LUAS) was more likely to be used for journeys with a longer duration. For journeys that were took more than an hour, 13% of these journeys were by rail/DART/Luas while 12.9% were by bus. Only a small proportion of journeys (2.2%) were by public transport for journeys with a duration of 15 minutes or less – 1.8% by bus and 0.4% by rail/DART/Luas. One in six journeys (16.5%) that took a quarter of an hour or less were by walking (14.9%) or cycling (1.6%), while walking was used for nearly one in ten (9.8%) journeys in excess of an hour in duration. See Table 2.5 and Figure 2.4.

Walking (36.1%) or cycling (2%) was the mode used for nearly four in every ten (38.1%) of all journeys under two kilometres. There was a positive relationship between car usage and distance. For short journeys (less than two kilometres), 56.9% of journeys were by car, either as driver (51.5%) or passenger (5.4%), whereas for longer journeys of eight kilometres or more, 84.6% were by car, either as driver (71.9%) or passenger (12.7%). See Table 2.6.

In 2019, over two thirds of one-person journeys (67.6%) were by private car. Where two or more persons are travelling together, travel by private car is the most common mode of travel – 82.9% of journeys involving two persons and 85.6% of journeys of three persons or more were by car. While one in six (16.2%) of journeys where the mode of travel was walking were one-person journeys, 17.6% chose to walk with others. See Table 2.7 and Figure 2.5.