More than half of all workers in the State drive to work, making the car the main means of travel to and from the office, new Census figures published today show.
Of the 1.6 million workers in the State in April 2002, 887,000 (55 per cent) drove to work. This is up from 46 per cent five years previously. In Dublin city and its suburbs more than 47 per cent of workers drove to work, the figures show.
There was also an increase in car ownership, with more than one million households saying they owned at least one car each in 2002. This represents an increase of 330,000 compared with 1991. Meath recorded the highest rate of car ownership (88 per cent), followed by Fingal (87 per cent) and Kildare (87 per cent). Only 58 per cent of households in Dublin city had a car.
Carrigaline, Co Cork, recorded the highest proportion (74 per cent) of employees using the car to get to work, followed by Dunboyne, Co Meath (70 per cent), Tramore, Co Waterford, (67 per cent) and Naas, Co Kildare (65 per cent).
The use of the train by workers was highest in the Co Dublin commuter towns of Skerries (23 per cent), Malahide (17 per cent) and Balbriggan (16 per cent).
Only 11.3 per cent of workers across the State walked to work, but more than 25 per cent travelled by foot the towns of Sligo, Westport and Ballina.
The Census figures also show that workers travelled an average of 9.8 miles from their homes to their place of work in 2002. This is an increase from 6.7 miles six years ago.
The Green party said the figures pointed to a "disastrous change" in Irish transport patterns and warned of "dire social, economic and environmental consequences"
The party's transport spokesman, Mr Eamon Ryan, said: "350,000 more people use motorised vehicles to travel as against an increase of only 43,000 people using sustainable modes of transport such as walking, cycling and public transport."
"This is an atrocious indictment of our transport and planning strategies," he added.
