2024 data continued the trend of more people travelling or making journeys on the travel reference day. Just short of eight in ten (78.6%) respondents to the survey aged 18 years and over had taken journeys on the travel reference day, up from 76.8% in 2021 (See Figure 6.1 and Table 6.1).
Note that the travel reference day is the day for which respondents provide information on their travel. Please refer to the Background Notes for more information.
These respondents were asked why they did not travel on the travel reference day. Almost one in ten (9.6%) cited working from home as the main reason why they didn’t take any journeys, down from 10.6% in 2021 when COVID-19 restrictions were still in place to some extent and workers were returning to their place of work on a full or partial basis. Nearly twice as many males selected this as their main reason for not making any trips on the travel reference day – 12.3% of males compared with 7.0% of females.
Over half (53.9%) of respondents who didn’t take journeys on the travel reference day said that they were fully occupied with home duties or had no need or wish to travel outside the home, down marginally from 54.4% in 2021. Nearly six in ten (57.8%) females who did not travel on the travel reference day stated that they were fully occupied with home duties or had no wish or need to travel, compared with less than half (49.7%) of males.
Of those who did not travel on the reference day, at an overall level, over one in seven (13.8%) cited illness, either short term or longer term (or mobility impairment) as the main reason for not any trips on the travel reference day. Females (9.2%) were more likely than males (7.1%) not to make any journeys due to long term illness or mobility impairment. Numbers citing short term illness as a reason dropped to 5.7% in 2024 from 8.8% in 2021, when COVID-19 was still very much part of our lives.
Weather conditions was the reason given by 5.1% of people who did not take any journeys, compared with 6.1% in 2021. Travelling abroad was given as the main reason for not making journeys within the State on the travel reference day, by 2.4% of people in 2024 compared with less than 1% in 2021 when many air travel restrictions remained in place and less people were travelling abroad as a result (See Table 6.2).
Those residing in densely populated areas were most likely to have taken a trip on the travel reference day. Almost eight in ten (79.3%) people residing in densely populated areas took a trip on the travel reference day. In 2024, nearly eight in ten (78.7%) respondents living in thinly populated rural areas were making trips, up from just over three‑quarters (76.1%) of people in 2021 (See Figure 6.2 and Table 6.3).
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