Almost half (48.5%) of respondents aged 18 years and over never use bus services, while one quarter (24.8%) use it less than monthly. One in every sixteen (6.3%) persons use the bus services very frequently, at least 5 times a week. Persons aged 18 to 24 years use the bus services most frequently – 36% of females and 33.6% of males in this age group use the bus services at least 5 times a week. At an overall level, one in twenty of over 18 year olds (4.7%) use the bus 3 to 4 times a week, and 8.5% use it less frequently, 1 to 2 times a week. See Table 10.1 and Figure 10.1.
| All Persons | Males aged 18-24 | Females aged 18-24 | |
| 1 to 2 times a week | 8.5 | 10.3 | 11.3 |
| 3 to 4 times a week | 4.7 | 1.9 | 12.8 |
| At least 5 times a week | 6.3 | 33.6 | 36 |
| Less than weekly but more than once a month | 7.1 | 12.6 | 8.1 |
| Less than monthly | 24.8 | 15.5 | 15.8 |
| Never | 48.5 | 26 | 16 |
Respondents were asked reasons why they do not use bus services more frequently. Over one fifth (22.3%) stated that there was no service nearby, while 17.5% cited that there was no service to where they wanted to go. Over one in seven (15.4%) cited that it was inconvenient. Infrequency of service was an issue for 9.4% of respondents, while unreliability was cited by almost one in sixteen (6.1%). Too expensive was an issue cited most by persons aged 18 to 24 years, by 9.1% of males and 8.6% of females in this age group. See Table 10.2 and Figure 10.2.
| I have no need to use more frequently | No service nearby | No service to where I want to go | Inconvenient | Infrequent | Unreliable | Difficult to use due to disabilities | Don't like it | Too expensive | |
| All Persons | 46 | 22.3 | 17.5 | 15.4 | 9.4 | 6.1 | 4.6 | 3.3 | 3.2 |
For persons who never use bus services, some of the main issues are that there is no service nearby and no service to where they want to go. One third (33.8%) of males who never use the bus stated that there was no service nearby, compared to 31.6% of females who never use bus services. One fifth (20.2%) of both males and females who never use the bus cited that there was no service to where they want to go as their reason for not using bus services. See Table 10.3.
Over half (51.0%) of respondents aged 18 years and over never use rail services (including mainline rail, DART and Luas), while over one third (34.5%) use it less than monthly. Just 2.2% of persons use rail services very frequently, at least 5 times a week, while 7.3% of persons use rail services less than weekly but more than once a month. Males aged 18 to 24 years (7.2%) and females in the 25-34 age group (6.9%) use rail services most frequently, at least 5 times a week. See Table 10.4 and Figure 10.3.
| All Persons | Males aged 18-24 | Females aged 25-34 | |
| 1 to 2 times a week | 3.3 | 5.1 | 1.8 |
| 3 to 4 times a week | 1.7 | 2.7 | 1.2 |
| At least 5 times a week | 2.2 | 7.2 | 6.9 |
| Less than weekly but more than once a month | 7.3 | 9 | 7.2 |
| Less than monthly | 34.5 | 33.7 | 30.3 |
| Never | 51 | 42.2 | 52.6 |
Respondents were asked for the reasons as to why they do not use rail services more frequently. One of the most common reasons cited was that there was no mainline train service nearby (24.6%), followed by no service to where I want to go (14.3%). One in six (16.3%) males aged 75 years and over cited that it was difficult to use due to disabilities, compared to one in eight (12.5%) of females in this age cohort. See Table 10.5.
For persons who never use rail services, no mainline train service available was one of the most common reason cited – 31.6% of males who never use the rail service stated this as a reason compared to 37.8% of females who never use rail services. See Table 10.6.
Respondents were asked what factors would encourage them to use public transport more. Almost one in ten (9.7%) cited more direct routes. One in sixteen (6%) would like more reliable timetables, while better value and greater frequency of service was cited by 7.1% and 6.9% of respondents respectively. One fifth stated that they would use public transport if they had no alternative methods to travel. See Tables 10.7, 10.8 and Figure 10.4.
| No alternative methods to travel | More direct routes | Ease of use of services | Better value | Greater frequency of service | More reliable journey times | More reliable timetables | Closer stops to my destinations | Shorter journey times | Better access to services | To help improve the environment | Improvements in disability access | |
| All Persons | 20.3 | 9.7 | 7.8 | 7.1 | 6.9 | 6.1 | 6 | 4.9 | 4.9 | 4.4 | 2 | 1.5 |
Go to next chapter: Walking
