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Public and Other Transport

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Public Transport Volumes

Source: National Transport Authority

Detailed data relating to bus and rail journeys is presented in table 3.1 and figure 3.1. The number of passenger journeys on public transport has dropped dramatically since the start of the COVID-19 crisis. Since the start of this year public transport journeys have been increasing gradually. Public transport services returned to full capacity from the beginning of September. This is reflected in increasing rail and bus journeys which are at their highest level since the beginning of 2021.

The total number of rail and bus journeys is now 69.6% of those taken in early March 2020 (pre COVID-19). The number of bus journeys outside of Dublin in the same week is 77.8% of pre COVID-19 levels. The corresponding level for bus journeys within Dublin is 70.2% of pre-COVID levels.

The data indicates that rail was the mode of transport that was most severely hit since the onset of the crisis. In the week commencing 05 April 2020 the number of journeys undertaken by rail was 97.2% lower than it was in the first week of March of 2020. For the latest week under consideration (week commencing 26 September) the number of journeys by rail was 40.0% lower than pre COVID-19 levels. Please note that rail data includes passenger journeys on Intercity and DART services.

Data on Luas journeys taken is presented in table 3.2 and illustrated in figure 3.2. Latest data for week 39 shows that journeys taken on the red line are now at its highest level since the beginning of the year but remain below 2019 levels. Journeys increased by 70.6% on the red line when compared with week 39 in 2020 but are still 47.5% lower than the same week in 2019.

For the green line in the same week, data shows that journeys have increased by 116,715 journeys compared with the corresponding period in 2020 but are still 45.7% lower than the same period in 2019.

X-axis labelDublin Metro BusBus excluding DublinRail
01-Mar 20203118388759099856295
08-Mar2558064608088912353
15-Mar889683202304658934
22-Mar62620114997697413
29-Mar3625518540526427
05-Apr3787059223724019
12-Apr3545528425626808
19-Apr40871510025532728
26-Apr42639510579935270
03-May45154710906637642
10-May49689812204943357
17-May61376414646265923
24-May72808016915895072
31-May726144170657103530
07-Jun861573216191130802
14-Jun1001001248019170729
21-Jun1052931258414200664
28-Jun1191210300688244513
05-Jul1289296336563261970
12-Jul1313755343314275425
19-Jul1345114359881289544
26-Jul1386355367623303230
02-Aug1343514355596322643
09-Aug1411115385771303273
16-Aug1362931353142257459
23-Aug1436786387797279886
30-Aug1580513419330333834
06-Sep1630992428665333173
13-Sep1618446432162345327
20-Sep1502915437676286524
27-Sep1533592442461297248
04-Oct1515680406840267040
11-Oct1537559383087265885
18-Oct1346619330082214392
25-Oct876747206039113250
01-Nov1148715286110184547
08-Nov1171793290151175989
15-Nov1200377300783191122
22-Nov1239144307185198651
29-Nov1531864394499277354
06-Dec1686019438379316210
13-Dec1725502438423330387
20-Dec1145902289867188230
27-Dec740923176527108781
03-Jan 2021748249184722108960
10-Jan73338718343990673
17-Jan73276318426793610
24-Jan74177018980093032
31-Jan788069200704104897
07-Feb77181819814396252
14-Feb834579207578110225
21-Feb879459207738123968
28-Feb945924240561144058
07-Mar958077240176136507
14-Mar951775244198146201
21-Mar1023741263125148522
28-Mar1002671257114172052
04 Apr909983236391142224
11-Mar1173626310561225420
18-Apr1204436320715243777
25-Apr1213709321346237706
02-May1115344292577218273
09-May1334448353887258430
16-May1472199388970281501
23-May1514131402517318382
30-May1558838416174394520
06-Jun1509114408566367119
13-Jun1639264451624393290
20-Jun1597027444629358167
27-Jun1599414446706404377
04-Jul1558959437507370176
11-Jul1597553458391419195
18-Jul1625124467910471616
25-Jul1590364439882395063
01-Aug1517233415176390785
08-Aug1638932456851401060
15-Aug1645965456528399245
22-Aug1768162505439474555
29-Aug1839214508117440813
05-Sep1925192528026457128
12-Sep1982469539648433992
19-Sep2139465583656482351
26-Sep2190332590386513794
Table 3.1 Passenger journeys by public transport, 01 March 2020 to 02 October 2021

X-axis label201920202021
Week 1549533602998154882
Week 2839022828455147908
Week 3819359889804150280
Week 4860745904841148633
Week 5912795942828156469
Week 6912612920121154595
Week 7940476911461158958
Week 8952291923869173458
Week 9929391898856182546
Week 10941919914613182343
Week 11924998684508184592
Week 12868205172062194458
Week 131003871109378193222
Week 1493357551655175429
Week 1594566251695232495
Week 1684218649393240221
Week 1780129655246237120
Week 1891925553321216926
Week 1981793362327304059
Week 2090498370288356075
Week 2190241597318388279
Week 22973025121645381468
Week 23826269116454376282
Week 24925516162187414980
Week 25883208198036413187
Week 26905636212109408603
Week 27982288260302403259
Week 28919158272181417819
Week 29903958281255416359
Week 30926491299837391588
Week 31832452329979386208
Week 32807393324687430283
Week 33868677327981441304
Week 34862939332762462372
Week 35897355352046456687
Week 36933362364177490348
Week 37969818385884505786
Week 38990123359756552233
Week 391031937322384551254
Week 40986159334649
Week 411054749350028
Week 421014017338183
Week 431028522283638
Week 44924586186287
Week 451019705227605
Week 461038825237979
Week 471062275244276
Week 481113668259772
Week 491080791394613
Week 501151098443719
Week 511173473460029
Week 52538511276844
Week 53-141651
Table 3.2 Passenger journeys by Luas per week

Bicycle Counter Data

Source: Dublin City Council

Dublin City Council operates cycle counters at five locations across the city to aid traffic planning and gauge demand for cycling. The cycle counter automatically counts cyclists passing in both directions and relays information to Dublin City Council’s traffic control centre. Data from these counters is presented in table 3.3. Please note that data in table 3.3 counts public holidays as off-peak.

The data for peak hours shows a different pattern to that of the off-peak data. The volume of cyclists on weekdays between 7am and 10am and from 4pm to 7pm decreased significantly when restrictions were most stringent last year.

The monthly volume of bicycles during peak hours in September 2021 was 15.5% higher than September 2020 but still 35.4% lower than August 2019. The monthly volume of bicycles during off-peak hours in September 2021 was 0.5% lower than August 2020 but 6.4% higher than August 2019.

2019 Peak2020 Peak2021 Peak2019 Off peak2020 Off peak2021 Off peak
January12086112709730241820598611862520
February11539211003733931828027648167019
March1143047663553046903557031599032
April11812028396599399128754611115262
May1371324326061134105374111189113488
June112541550097731199378110170128018
July1461906470174258113917109296127191
August1297975821068178108179119001108353
September1402627838890551108352115860115264
October140226638670103886104946
November1216075770209184593118
December841784665207737579108
Table 3.3 Monthly volume of bicycles at selected Dublin sites

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