Driving a car was the most popular way to commute to work in 2016 and in 2022, although the proportion fell from 61.4% to 59% (excluding those that worked mainly at or from home) (see Figure 8.1 and Table 8.1). In 2022, the lowest proportion of commuters who drove a car to work was in Cities, at 44.8%, while the highest was in Rural areas with high urban influence at 73%.
Walking was the second most popular way to commute for people living in Cities at 12.3% in 2022. Walking was least common in Rural areas with high urban influence, at 3.1%.
The highest proportion of workers in 2022 who cycled was 6.5% in Cities, in contrast with between 0.5% and 0.6% of commuters in the three rural area types.
| On foot | Bicycle | Bus, minibus or coach | Train, DART, or Luas | Motorcycle or scooter | Driving a car | Passenger in a car | Other, including lorry or van | Not stated | |
| Cities 2016 | 13.4 | 6.5 | 11.8 | 6 | 0.7 | 48.5 | 3.5 | 3.3 | 6.2 |
| Cities 2022 | 12.3 | 6.5 | 11.8 | 5.7 | 0.7 | 44.8 | 3.4 | 3.6 | 11.2 |
| Satellite urban towns 2016 | 7.1 | 1.3 | 6.6 | 5.8 | 0.5 | 65.8 | 4.1 | 5.5 | 3.3 |
| Satellite urban towns 2022 | 7 | 1.4 | 6.7 | 4.9 | 0.4 | 63.8 | 4.3 | 6 | 5.5 |
| Independent urban towns 2016 | 14.1 | 1.9 | 2.1 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 62.5 | 6.6 | 6.2 | 5.2 |
| Independent urban towns 2022 | 13.2 | 1.9 | 2.4 | 1 | 0.2 | 59.3 | 6.5 | 6.7 | 8.7 |
| Rural areas with high urban influence 2016 | 2.9 | 0.6 | 1.5 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 75.3 | 3.5 | 11.4 | 3.5 |
| Rural areas with high urban influence 2022 | 3.1 | 0.6 | 1.5 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 73 | 3.7 | 11.8 | 5.1 |
| Rural areas with moderate urban influence 2016 | 3.7 | 0.5 | 1 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 72.7 | 3.8 | 13.5 | 4.3 |
| Rural areas with moderate urban influence 2022 | 3.8 | 0.5 | 1 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 71.2 | 3.8 | 13.8 | 5.3 |
| Highly rural/remote areas 2016 | 6 | 0.6 | 1 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 67.7 | 4 | 14.2 | 6 |
| Highly rural/remote areas 2022 | 5.3 | 0.6 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 66.4 | 4 | 15 | 7.2 |
| State 2016 | 9.3 | 3 | 5.9 | 3.4 | 0.4 | 61.4 | 4.1 | 7.3 | 5 |
| State 2022 | 8.8 | 3 | 5.9 | 3 | 0.4 | 59 | 4.2 | 7.8 | 8.1 |
Census 2022 included a new question, asking respondents if they ever work from home. The proportion of people who worked from home was highest at 38.4% in Cities, compared to the lowest percentage of 21.5% in Independent urban towns (see Figure 8.2).
| X-axis label | Work from home |
|---|---|
| Cities | 38.4 |
| Satellite urban towns | 36 |
| Independent urban towns | 21.5 |
| Rural areas with high urban influence | 32.7 |
| Rural areas with moderate urban influence | 27.7 |
| Highly rural/remote areas | 25.4 |
| State | 32.2 |
The average commuting time for workers and students in 2022 was 25.4 minutes, up from 24.3 minutes in 2016. Independent urban towns had the lowest average commuting time of 22.7 minutes, while those in Satellite urban towns had the highest at 27.5 minutes (see Table 8.2).
Between 2016 and 2022 there was an increase in travel times for people at work, school, and college for all the categories adopted in Table 8.2. The largest increase was seen for students at school or college aged 19 and over, where average travel times increased by 3.8 minutes to 37.1 minutes, with Satellite urban towns the highest within this category at 47.3 minutes. The shortest commuting time was 10.3 minutes for children aged between 5 and 12 living in Highly rural/remote areas.
People going to work had an average journey time of 29.1 minutes in 2022, with the longest journeys of 32.3 minutes in Satellite urban towns compared to the shortest at 26.0 minutes in Independent urban towns.
Just under one in three commuters (31%) in 2022 had a journey time of less than 15 minutes but this varied from 23.3% in Cities to 41.7% in Independent urban towns.
The longest journey times of one hour or more were experienced by 10.9% of commuters in Satellite urban towns in 2022 compared to just 6.6% of commuters in Cities, (see Figure 8.3).
| < 1/4 hour | 1/4 hour - < 1/2 hour | 1/2 hour - < 3/4 hour | 3/4 hour - < 1 hour | 1 hour - <1 1/2 hour | 1 1/2 hours and over | Not stated | |
| Cities 2016 | 24.2 | 33 | 20.8 | 6.6 | 5.4 | 1.4 | 8.6 |
| Cities 2022 | 23.3 | 31.4 | 19.2 | 6 | 5.1 | 1.5 | 13.5 |
| Satellite urban towns 2016 | 30.5 | 26.2 | 17.8 | 7.7 | 9.3 | 2.7 | 5.8 |
| Satellite urban towns 2022 | 29.9 | 26.3 | 17.8 | 7.2 | 8.1 | 2.8 | 8 |
| Independent urban towns 2016 | 46.6 | 23.6 | 10.6 | 3.6 | 4.9 | 2.8 | 8.1 |
| Independent urban towns 2022 | 41.7 | 23.1 | 11.1 | 3.9 | 5.2 | 3 | 12.1 |
| Rural areas with high urban influence 2016 | 32.1 | 28.6 | 18.1 | 6.3 | 6.5 | 2.6 | 5.8 |
| Rural areas with high urban influence 2022 | 31.6 | 28 | 17.9 | 6.1 | 6.4 | 2.6 | 7.4 |
| Rural areas with moderate urban influence 2016 | 35.7 | 28.4 | 15.6 | 5.1 | 5.7 | 3 | 6.7 |
| Rural areas with moderate urban influence 2022 | 35 | 27.6 | 15.3 | 5.2 | 5.9 | 3.2 | 7.9 |
| Highly rural/remote areas 2016 | 38.1 | 26.2 | 15 | 4.6 | 5.1 | 2.7 | 8.3 |
| Highly rural/remote areas 2022 | 36.1 | 25.6 | 14.9 | 4.8 | 5.4 | 3.1 | 10.1 |
| State 2016 | 32.3 | 28.8 | 17.3 | 5.9 | 6.1 | 2.3 | 7.4 |
| State 2022 | 31 | 27.9 | 16.7 | 5.6 | 5.9 | 2.4 | 10.6 |
About one in five commuters (22.5%) left home between 8:01 and 8:30, with the highest proportion in Independent urban towns at 23.7%, (see Figure 8.4). Between 8:01 and 8:30 was the most popular time to leave home in all areas except for Highly rural/remote areas, where 20.4% left between 8:31 and 9:00.
Commuters were most likely to leave before 7:00 in Satellite urban towns, where just under one in five commuters (19.7%) left at this time, and Rural areas with high urban influence at 17.8%.
| Before 06:30 | 06:31 - 07:00 | 07:01 - 07:30 | 07:31 - 08:00 | 08:01 - 08:30 | 08:31 - 09:00 | 09:01 - 09:30 | After 09:30 | Not stated | |
| Cities 2016 | 4.9 | 7 | 9.8 | 16.1 | 23.4 | 19.1 | 4.6 | 8.8 | 6.3 |
| Cities 2022 | 5.5 | 9.4 | 9.3 | 19.1 | 23.3 | 10.9 | 2.2 | 7.1 | 13.4 |
| Satellite urban towns 2016 | 7.2 | 9 | 10.7 | 14.6 | 20.8 | 21 | 5.7 | 7.1 | 3.9 |
| Satellite urban towns 2022 | 8 | 11.7 | 10.2 | 17.6 | 23.3 | 13.9 | 2 | 5.7 | 7.7 |
| Independent urban towns 2016 | 6.6 | 6.3 | 6.6 | 11.4 | 18 | 27.8 | 8.9 | 8.5 | 5.8 |
| Independent urban towns 2022 | 7.8 | 8.6 | 7.3 | 13.4 | 23.7 | 17.9 | 2.8 | 6.7 | 11.9 |
| Rural areas with high urban influence 2016 | 5.9 | 7.5 | 9.8 | 16.2 | 20.6 | 21.5 | 9.9 | 4.9 | 3.6 |
| Rural areas with high urban influence 2022 | 7 | 10.8 | 10.7 | 19.6 | 21.4 | 16.6 | 3.1 | 3.9 | 6.8 |
| Rural areas with moderate urban influence 2016 | 5.8 | 6.6 | 8.6 | 15 | 19.3 | 22.9 | 12.5 | 5.1 | 4.2 |
| Rural areas with moderate urban influence 2022 | 6.9 | 9.8 | 9.9 | 18.2 | 21.3 | 18.7 | 3.8 | 4.1 | 7.2 |
| Highly rural/remote areas 2016 | 5 | 5.9 | 7.7 | 13.9 | 17.5 | 23.5 | 14.6 | 6.4 | 5.6 |
| Highly rural/remote areas 2022 | 6.1 | 9.1 | 9 | 16.7 | 19.2 | 20.4 | 5.2 | 4.8 | 9.4 |
| State 2016 | 5.7 | 7.1 | 9.1 | 14.9 | 20.8 | 21.9 | 8 | 7.3 | 5.2 |
| State 2022 | 6.7 | 9.8 | 9.4 | 17.7 | 22.5 | 15.1 | 2.8 | 5.8 | 10.2 |
The most popular time for primary school children to leave home was between 8:31 and 9:00 in all area types except for Cities, and Satellite urban towns, where leaving between 8:01 and 8:30 was most common. More than half of primary school children left after 8:31 in the three rural area types, while more than half left before this time in Cities and Satellite urban towns, (see Figure 8.5).
The highest proportion of primary school children leaving home between 8:01 and 8:30 was 48.5% in Cities.
| X-axis label | Any time up to 08:00 | 08:01 - 08:30 | 08:31 - 09:00 | After 09:00 | Not stated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cities | 16.4 | 48.5 | 21.6 | 0.9 | 12.6 |
| Satellite urban towns | 13 | 41.9 | 36.3 | 2.1 | 6.7 |
| Independent urban towns | 7.5 | 35.7 | 40.1 | 4.9 | 11.7 |
| Rural areas with high urban influence | 10.4 | 26 | 49.3 | 8.6 | 5.7 |
| Rural areas with moderate urban influence | 7.7 | 21.3 | 53.3 | 12 | 5.7 |
| Highly rural/remote areas | 5.9 | 16.3 | 53.6 | 17 | 7.2 |
| State | 11.3 | 35.5 | 38.3 | 5.8 | 9.1 |
Of all the workers who worked in Dublin city and suburbs, 70.2% lived in Cities, 16.4% lived in Satellite urban towns and 6.4% lived in Rural areas with high urban influence. In all, 45,028 or 9.1% commuting to Dublin came from rural areas. For Cork city and suburbs, a higher proportion (24.5%) came from rural areas.
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