Cycling, walking and private car use returned to pre-COVID levels

Cycling, walking and private car use returned to pre-Covid levels in 2024, according to figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

Of people aged 18 and over, 78.6% of people took a trip on the day that they provided information on their travel patterns to the CSO.

Private cars remained the most popular mode of travel, accounting for 73.9% of the total, returning to pre-COVID levels.

Travel by bus accounted for just 4.1% of journeys in 2024, a decrease from 4.3% in 2021 and 4.8% in 2019.

Active travel during and post-COVID reduced in 2024, with walking decreasing from 16.9% of all trips in 2021 to 13.6% in 2024, up from 13.5% in 2019.

In 2024, the busiest time for taking journeys was between 4pm and 7pm, with 45% of all journeys taken during this time taken for work-related purposes.

Maureen Delamere, Statistician in the Social Analysis and Modules Division, said: “This is the first survey on travel behaviour carried out by the CSO since the COVID-19 pandemic. When the last survey was carried out in Quarter 4 (Q4) 2021, society and the economy had begun to return to normal, but various restrictions were still in place. The release includes a selection of statistics with additional data available on the CSO’s open data portal, PxStat.

“This survey was mostly collected in Q4 2024, and 78.6% of respondents had taken a trip on the day for which they provided information on their travel pattern. Of those who did not take any trip on the travel reference day, some were working from home, while most said they were fully occupied with home duties or had no need or wish to travel outside the home.”