According to the most extensive survey of active travel in urban regions, activities such as walking, cycling and using wheeled mobility aids like wheelchairs or strollers, remove an estimated 680,000 cars from daily circulation in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick-Shannon, and Waterford. The study, conducted by the National Transport Authority (NTA) in partnership with local authorities shows that over half of adult city-dwellers in these five metropolitan regions walk at least five days a week. Furthermore, a minimum of 15% cycle once weekly.
Approximately half of the urban population express a desire to walk or utilise wheeling more frequently. However, there’s an evident gender disparity concerning cycling, with more men participating than women across all areas surveyed.
The study also reveals considerable public support for increased Government funding towards walking and wheeling initiatives, with support levels ranging from 74% in Dublin to 68% in Waterford. Similarly, the public support for government spending on cycling projects varies between 77% and 61%. In contrast, public backing for increased spending on driving initiatives is considerably lower, between 40% and 24%.
The study, coordinated by Sustrans, utilises a model considering various aspects such as travel time, vehicle operating expenses, health benefits, air quality and taxation to comprehend the costs and benefits of driving, walking, wheeling and cycling. This marks the first time data from locations other than Dublin is included in the study, with more than 1,100 people aged 16 and above, surveyed within each city. It discovered that active travel contributed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions across these cities by 160,000 tonnes. This reduction is similar to an individual making 2,200,000 flights from Dublin to London.
When enquired about what could encourage them to walk or wheel more, participants listed improved footpath conditions, including kerbs lowered at crossings; access to parks and green spaces in closer proximity to their homes, along with more inviting spots along pavements to pause and rest.
The majority of residents have shown support for infrastructure enhancements, such as constructing cycle tracks that are separated from both traffic and footpaths, as well as marked cycle paths along less crowded streets and car-free paths in parks and green spaces. The strong response seen indicates that people wouldn’t mind decreased space for other forms of traffic if it meant creating cycle tracks, with support ranging from 69 to 88 percent.
NTA’s Chief Executive, Anne Graham, expressed that they are hard at work with local government bodies to offer safer pedestrian and cycling facilities to inspire more people to adopt active commuting. Anne Graham stressed that it’s evident from the latest pedestrian and cycle index that a larger proportion of inhabitants in Ireland’s five major cities are keen to integrate walking and cycling into their everyday lives. Doing so aids in establishing a more eco-friendly future and the NTA would persist in their push to extend walking and cycling infrastructure in key Irish cities like Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Waterford, and beyond, she asserted further.
The Transport Minister, Eamon Ryan, stated that the shift was evident and was making cities more sustainable and accessible, while also enhancing well-being. He emphasized that if the investment is sustained, it could persuade more urban dwellers to opt for walk or bike within their local communities. This scenario affords an opportunity to reimagine our cities as safer and cleaner environments that focus on the requirements of residents, not merely vehicles, he stated further.
Detailed indexes for individual cities can be accessed via provided link.
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