Chapter 4 looks at trends in transport activity over time. This activity generates air pollution which has a significant impact on the environment. These indicators include the number of licensed vehicles in Ireland, public transport passenger journeys, rail passenger traffic compared with other EU Member States, international air and sea passengers, Census data on means of travel to work; and new private cars licensed for the first time by type of fuel. The COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on the level of transport activity, though most indicators have recovered back to 2019 levels.
The total number of licensed vehicles in Ireland has increased steadily year by year from 1985 to 2024 (except for small declines in 2009, 2010 and 2012). In 2024, this number reached 3.1 million, up 4.7% on the 2023 figure (and 227.6% on the average 1985-1989 annual figure).
Private cars accounted for most of this growth. In 2024, 2.4 million private cars were licenced, an increase of 4.7% on the 2023 figure (and 230.5% on the average 1985-1989 annual figure).
The COVID-19 pandemic had an impact on public transport usage in Ireland, causing sharp declines in passenger numbers from 2020 to 2021. These figures had recovered by 2024 and exceeded pre-pandemic level for bus, rail and Luas passenger journeys.
In 2024, there were 268.3 million passenger bus journeys in Ireland, up 7.5% on 2023, and also higher than the 2019 figure. Over 50.7 million rail passenger journeys were taken in Ireland in 2024, up 10.0% on 2023, and also above the 2019 figure. Luas journeys were taken by 54.2 million passengers in 2024, up 12.5% on 2023, and also higher than the 2019 figure.
The COVID-19 pandemic had an impact on rail passenger traffic across the EU, with major declines in 2020 in all countries for which data are available. Passenger numbers have recovered since then for most countries.
In Ireland there were 9.5 rail passenger journeys per person in 2024. Luxembourg was the EU Member State with the highest level of passenger journeys per capita at 46.5 in 2024, while Greece had the lowest level at 1.4.
| Country | Passenger journeys per capita |
|---|---|
| Luxembourg | 46.5 |
| Austria | 38 |
| Denmark | 35.3 |
| Germany | 34.8 |
| Sweden | 23.9 |
| Netherlands | 20.9 |
| Portugal | 20.6 |
| France | 19.3 |
| Czechia | 17.5 |
| Finland | 15.1 |
| Italy | 14.3 |
| Slovakia | 13.3 |
| Latvia | 10.4 |
| Ireland | 9.5 |
| Slovenia | 7.4 |
| Croatia | 6.4 |
| Estonia | 5.8 |
| Romania | 3.7 |
| Bulgaria | 3.3 |
| Lithuania | 1.8 |
| Greece | 1.4 |
The COVID-19 pandemic had an impact on the volume of international passengers through Irish air and seaports, causing a sharp decline in passenger numbers in 2020. In subsequent years there was a recovery in air passenger numbers and by 2024 there were 40.7 million international passenger journeys through Irish airports, (up 4.5% on 2023 and up 7.4% compared with the pre-pandemic 2019 figure).
The number of passengers travelling on international journeys to and from Irish seaports was 2.2 million in 2024. This was down 4.8% from 2023 and was also below the pre-pandemic level of 2.5 million in 2019.
According to Census data, the percentage of females aged 15 years or over driving to work has increased from 27.1% in 1986 to 65.7% in 2011, before falling to 57.6% in 2022. The proportion of females travelling to work as car passengers, on foot, by bicycle and by bus, minibus or coach all fell from 1986 to 2022. In contrast the percentage of females working from home increased from 2.9% in 2016 to 11.2% in 2022.
The proportion of males aged 15 years or over driving to work increased from 41.9% to 54.9% between 1986 and 2011, before falling to 47.7% in 2022. The proportion of males working from home fell from 21.7% in 1986 to less than 6.5% in 2006, 2011 and 2016. This increased to 11.4% in 2022.
In 2024, the percentage of new licensed private cars using petrol dropped to 31.2% while diesel cars increased slightly to 22.9%. Electric and hybrid cars made up 45.8% of new licenses, up from just 1.7% in 2015 and 45.0% in 2023. Hybrid cars were more popular than electric ones and grew from 25.8% in 2023 to 31.1% in 2024. By contrast, electric cars licensed for the first time fell from 19.2% of the total to 14.7% in 2024.
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