Aideen Sheehan (DTTaS), Aideen Morrissey (DTTaS), Ann Marie Ryan (EPA), Aoife O’Grady (DTTaS), Paul J Crowley (CSO), Brendan Curtin (CSO), Maureen Delamere (CSO), Noreen Dorgan (CSO), Barry Colleary (NTA), Ciaran O’Driscoll (IMDO), Dan Brennan (TII), Dearbhla Quinn ((DTTaS), Deborah John (NTA), Denis Dineen (SEAI), Dimitri Cernize (CSO), Ben Breen (IMDO), Eoin Gillard (TII), Kevin Threadgold (DTTaS), Naoise Grisewood (DTTaS), Paul Brewster (IMDO), Sharon Heffernan (RSA), Tomás Campbell (DTTaS), Eamonn O’Connor (IMDO). Daniel Griffin (DTTaS), Peter Morgan (DTTaS).
Gemma O’Reilly (EPA), Stephen Treacy (EPA), Mary Holland (SEAI), Brian Caulfield (TCD), Clare O’Hara (CSO), Gerry Brady (CSO), Neil Gannon (DTTaS), Philip O’Brien (EPA).
Item 1: Introduction & Welcome
Aideen Sheehan (DTTaS) welcomed the participants and invited everyone to introduce themselves to the group.
Item 2: Central Statistics Office Transport Statistics Update - Brendan Curtin.
Brendan provided an overview of the work done on the topic of Transport, across five domains by the CSO. Developments referenced included the earlier production of the 2016 Transport Omnibus and the introduction of maritime passenger data in line with the DTTaS Data Strategy, plans to increase the frequency of publication of maritime data from annually to quarterly; and innovation in data collection, in the form of a new road freight e-survey which collects data from the industry weekly and transmits it quarterly to Eurostat. Other topics discussed included the development of visualisations in car make and model and increased frequency of updates to drive more consumer traffic to the CSO website, the increase in tonnage transported by road freight and an increase in the number of vessels using Irish ports.
From 2021 there will be a new EU requirement to conduct surveys on passengers on inland waterways, participation in the pilot programme is optional and there is expected to be a derogation for vessels with less than 12 fee-paying passengers . CSO reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the Department’s data strategy, and referenced plans to collaborate with the SEAI on providing a wider range of data regarding vehicle kilometres to stay in line with developing EU requirements.
Item 3: Land Bridge Study - Irish Maritime Development Organisation - Paul Brewster.
Paul presented the findings from the draft study aimed at quantifying scale of Irish landbridge freight trade through Britain and potential impact and options in context of Brexit customs changes. Analysis using a variety of sources including CSO, IMDO and a survey of operators indicates around 150,000 freight units (trucks) a year using the landbridge option. Both time and frequency were found to be important factors in choosing between transport options with ‘Roll on, roll off’ (RoRo) via landbridge representing significant time savings at a much higher cost than the slower direct options. The demand for this shorter transit time arises particularly for businesses dealing in perishable goods, high value good or working within competitive supply chains. A sensitivity analysis of time and price changes was also carried out. Recommendations included a defence of the status quo, migitation of impacts on ports/transport providers, EU solutions to increased peripherality of Ireland, and assessing the potential for new technology to increase efficiency (Blockchain, loT).
Aoife O’Grady (DTTaS) asked about the potential for improving efficiency of direct route ConRo (roll-on containers) as an alternative to RoRo, and this prompted a discussion on the importance of frequency of sailings in addition to speed in ensuring reliability.
Item 4: Household Travel Survey 2017 presentation – National Transport Authority - Barry Colleary.
Barry presented the findings of HTS 2017 regarding household travel modes, a survey designed to obtain factual data on the travel habits of the population, and to predict travel demand on a small area level. Approximately 6,000 households were surveyed providing information on 62,000 trips. Data was gathered via travel diaries linked to both individuals and their households. Key findings included the busiest days of travel nationally (Tuesday and Wednesday), with the “school run” peak of 3-4pm now busier than the evening rush nationally (though evening journeys are longer). There is a significant divergence in travel patterns in Dublin city which is busiest on Fridays. Dublin also diverges from national figures in experiencing 3 rather than 2 peak travel times with 11am-12pm a distinct peak, and it also has the highest proportion of work/business related and social travel, lower rates of car use and high rates of walking, public transport use and cycling. Barry also outlined how the data feeds into their national and regional transport models.
Maureen Delamere (CSO) posed a question regarding how stages of trips were counted and recorded, and some differences and similarities in the methodology and results of the NTA’s HTS 2017 and CSO’s National Travel Survey were discussed.
Item 5: NTS Travel App presentation – CSO Maureen Delamere
Maureen described the findings and methodology of the National Travel Survey (NTS) 2016, a survey of 11,000 people with information on 20,000 journeys and results similar to the NTA’s HTS in many regards (Eg modal split, journey purpose). Maureen described the major transformation which has taken place of the CSO’s survey processes, replacing the QNHS with the Labour Force Survey. The introduction of CATI (telephone) mode interviewing for the LFS has led to a mixed methods approach to data collection. Through beginning in CAPI mode (face to face interviews with a laptop) but then transitioning to CATI mode, staff are made available to conduct additional survey work, improving the efficiency of the organisation. The CATI mode has some impact on the type of questions which can be asked in the LFS, meaning a new General Household Survey has been introduced using CAPI mode which is used for most other social modules and household surveys. It includes blocks of socio-demographic information, and the next NTS will be held in Q4 2019.
Additionally the CSO will be launching a new travel app to further improve the efficiency and accuracy of data collection as respondents will be able to enter travel data throughout the day reducing the reliance on recall of trips. This app will be piloted in Quarter 4 2018 and possibly used (alongside existing methods) in the Q4 2019 NTS. Features that the CSO IT App Development team are looking at are functionality such as auto-complete, favourite journeys and prompts to use the app. Maureen referenced the constraints imposed by GDPR for use of full app functionality, and a technological restraint with respect to the CSO Data Management System which necessitates email rather than text based reminders and information post-outs.
Eoin Gillard (TII) suggested that Eircodes could be utilised to improve data quality on origin/destination of trips to remove ambiguities/ spelling errors on placenames.
Item 6: AOB and Conclusion
Aideen thanked everyone for their presentations and attendance, and invited participants to follow up with each other and/or the group re further queries/suggestions in the statistical domain. It was suggested the next Liaison Group meeting be held within a year and the meeting was brought to a close.