Transport 2006

Transport 2006

The CSO released a new thematic publication on Transport in Ireland during 2006 today. The report aims to provide a comprehensive and meaningful summary on the diverse range of Irish transport statistics. It is intended that this will become an annual publication, which will be further enhanced and developed as additional data sources relating to Transport are identified or become available. Some of the key findings include:

Almost 1.8 million private cars currently licensed at end of 2006

There were almost 1.8 million private cars licensed in Ireland during 2006, compared with 1 million in 1996. In 2006 alone over 173,000 private cars were licensed for the first time, of which less than half of one percent were using alternative fuels (petrol/electric or petrol/ethanol). Over 46% of new private cars licensed in 2006 had an engine capacity in the 1501 – 2400 cc range while 6% had an engine capacity greater than 2400 cc’s.

18% of all driving licences held are provisional

Of the 2.4 million driving licenses held at the end of 2006, over 430,000 (almost 18%) were provisional. Almost 159,000 driving tests were conducted in 2006, of which over 83,000 (over 52%) were passed. The average waiting time for a test at the end of 2006 was 29.8 weeks.

78% of all penalty points issued in 2006 relate to speeding offences

Between October 2002 (the introduction of the scheme) and the end of December 2006 over 462,000 penalty points were issued. Almost 186,000 points or 40% were issued during 2006, 78% of which related to speeding offences.

Freight Transport - 99% of national domestic freight transported by Road

Over 304 million tonnes of freight were transported within Ireland in 2006. Almost all of this domestic transport was by means of Road (301 million tonnes or 99%), with 1.9 million tonnes transported by Sea (0.6%), 1.2 million tonnes by Rail (0.4%) and 0.03 million tonnes being transported by Air.

During 2006 Irish Registered goods vehicles transported almost 313 million tonnes of goods by road. In comparison 88 million tonnes were transported in 1996. This represents an average annual growth rate of over 12%.

Over 224,000 international commercial flights passed through Irish airports during 2006, carrying almost 27 million passengers and 112,000 tonnes of air freight. Dublin airport handled the majority of passengers on international flights (over 20 million).

Over 16,000 vessels docked in Irish ports during 2006 and shipped over 53 million tonnes of goods. Of these 137 were cruise ships carrying almost 106,000 passengers.

Public Transport – Almost a quarter of Luas passengers travel between 08:00-09:00 and 17:00-18:00

During 2006 Bus Eireann carried 92 million passengers of which 42 million were carried on the school transport scheme. Dublin Bus carried 146 million passengers and almost 26 million passengers travelled on the LUAS during 2006. Over 23% of LUAS traffic occurred during the hours between 08:00-09:00 and 17:00-18:00. Irish Rail carried 43 million passengers during 2006.

Transport 2006 is priced at €15.00 and is available on our website www.cso.ie.

Hard copies available from the:

Central Statistics Office, Information Section, Skehard Road, Cork,

Government Publications Sales Office, Sun Alliance House, Molesworth Street, Dublin 2,

or through any bookseller.

For more information contact:

Transport Section
Central Statistics Office

Phone: Locall 1890 313 414/(021) 453 5319/(021) 453 5260
Fax: (021) 453 5299
Internet: www.cso.ie
E-mail: transport@cso.ie

14 December 2007

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