NTA undertakes largest ever survey of walking, wheeling and cycling in Ireland –
The annual economic benefit from walking, wheeling and cycling in the five Metropolitan Areas each year is over €3bn
The National Transport Authority has today published the findings of the largest-ever survey of walking, wheeling, and cycling in Ireland, which reveals that walking and cycling take 680,000 cars off the roads every day in Ireland’s five largest cities.
The Walking and Cycling Index provides the most extensive assessment of walking, wheeling, and cycling in Ireland – wheeling refers to the use of wheeled mobility aids. Delivered in collaboration with local authorities, the National Transport Authority and sustainable transport charity Sustrans, the Index was expanded last year beyond Dublin to include Cork, Galway, Limerick/Shannon and Waterford Metropolitan Areas. 18 city regions in the UK including Liverpool, Manchester, and Glasgow have also produced reports published today.
In all the Metropolitan Areas in the state, more than half of adults walk five or more days a week, while at least 15% cycle once a week. Approximately one in two residents want to walk or wheel more, and approximately a third would like to cycle more.
The reports also indicate a high level of support for more government spending on walking and wheeling, ranging from 74% in the Dublin Metropolitan Area to 68% in the Waterford Metropolitan Area. A similar level of support for spending on cycling was also noted ranging from 77% to 61%. This contrasts with support for more government spending on driving, ranging from 40% to 24% across the 5 Metropolitan areas.
Each year people walking, wheeling, and cycling in our Metropolitan Areas when they could have driven, prevents a total of 5,844 serious long-term health conditions, and the cost saving to the HSE is equivalent to 1,600,000 GP appointments. The annual economic benefit from people walking, wheeling and cycling to individuals and society in the five Metropolitan Areas each year is over €3bn. The Walking and Cycling Index uses a model to understand the costs and benefits of driving, walking, wheeling and cycling and inputs include travel time, vehicle operating costs, health benefits, air quality and taxation.
The report also found that walking, wheeling and cycling saved a total of 160,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions across the 5 Metropolitan Areas, equivalent to 2,200,000 flights from Dublin to London.
Across all 5 Irish Metropolitan Areas, residents gave similar answers as to what would help them walk or wheel more – better footpath surfaces including dropped kerbs at crossing points, more parks and green spaces close to home, and nicer places along streets to stop and rest. Residents gave similar answers as to what would help them cycle more – infrastructural improvements such as traffic-free paths through parks or greenways, signed cycle routes along quieter streets, and cycle tracks along roads physically separated from traffic and pedestrians.
Across residents in all the metropolitan areas, there was strong support for building such cycle tracks even where that means less room for other traffic – ranging from 88% to 69%.
Every day 530,000 return walking and cycling trips are made daily in the Dublin Metropolitan Area by people who could have used a car. If these cars were all in a traffic jam it would tail back 2,500 kilometres equivalent to over 9 times the distance from Dublin city to Cork city. 71% of residents in Dublin walk or wheel at least five days a week, 25% cycle at least once a week.
The Cork Walking and Cycling Index found that walking, wheeling, and cycling save 18,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions in Cork each year, which is equivalent to about 227,000 residents taking flights from Cork Airport to London Heathrow Airport.
The report also found that walking and cycling create an economic benefit of €401.6 million for the Cork Metropolitan Area. This includes €1.40 of a net economic benefit for each kilometre cycled instead of driven and €0.93 benefit for each kilometre walked instead of driven.
The benefits of walking and cycling to the Metropolitan Areas are outlined in the report, with the physical activity benefits of walking, wheeling, and cycling in the Limerick Shannon Metropolitan area preventing 320 long-term health conditions annually, valued at approx. €4.54m. This is equivalent to the cost of over 83,100 GP appointments.
The Index showed that residents’ travel choices can vary between different groups. In the Limerick Shannon Metropolitan Area 48% of residents with a disability walk or wheel at least five days a week in compared to 53% of residents without a disability while 8% of residents with a disability cycle at least once a week, compared to 16% without a disability. 10% of women and 20% of men cycle at least once a week. This gender gap in cycling featured across all 5 Metropolitan areas.
The Galway Metropolitan Area Walking and Cycling Index revealed 60% of residents walk or wheel at least five days a week, while 20% cycle at least once a week. There is evidence too that residents support the development of more protected cycle infrastructure within the Galway Metropolitan Area, with 88% of residents supporting building more cycle tracks physically separated from traffic and pedestrians, even where that means less room for other traffic.
In the Waterford Metropolitan Area, 63% of residents are in favour of additional investment in cycling infrastructure and 68% in favour of additional investment in walking and wheeling infrastructure. This comes amid a growing demand for active travel with 53% expressing their desire to walk, wheel more in the future, and 31% expressing a desire to cycle more.
Welcoming the publication of the Walking and Cycling Index, Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan said: “The latest Walking and Cycling Index from the NTA provides a positive snapshot of the growing numbers walking, wheeling, and cycling each day in our largest cities. It’s clear that the shift towards active travel is helping to create more sustainable and accessible cities and improve the health and wellbeing of our communities.
“With the Government’s continued investment in active travel infrastructure, we can help encourage even more people in our cities to choose to walk, wheel or cycle within their communities. This gives us the opportunity to also reimagine our cities as safer, cleaner places that are designed around the needs of people, not just cars.”
Anne Graham, CEO of the NTA said: “We’re delighted to roll out the largest survey into walking, wheeling and cycling in Ireland. Over the past few years, the NTA has been working with local authorities across the country to deliver safe pedestrian and cycle infrastructure that encourages more people to engage in active travel.
“It’s clear from the latest Walking and Cycling Index that more people in Ireland’s five largest cities want to cycle and walk each day. By encouraging people to make active travel a part of their daily journey, we can all play our part in creating a more sustainable future. The NTA will continue to accelerate our efforts to roll out walking and cycling infrastructure in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Waterford and other areas across Ireland.”
Matt Winfield, Chief Operating Officer for Sustrans said: “I am delighted to see how active travel is developing in Ireland and I welcome the involvement of all five Metropolitan Areas into the Index partnership. At Sustrans, our mission is to make it easier for people to walk, wheel and cycle, and it is refreshing to see the very significant support of the Irish people for Active Travel. The number of residents wanting to walk, wheel and cycle more highlights the importance of investment in good infrastructure to make it easier to leave the car at home and travel actively. Better infrastructure plays a vital role in helping to create more sustainable and vibrant places to live and work. We look forward to continuing our work with the NTA and local authorities to increase active travel across Ireland.”
Access the 2023 Walking and Cycling Index for further details.