Public transport journeys hit highest levels since start of pandemic

The number of passenger journeys made on public transport climbed to their highest levels since the start of the pandemic in May but have yet to return to pre-Covid levels, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

New figures published on Monday also show the volume of passengers travelling through Ireland’s main airports continued to increase last month. Almost 2.6 million passengers travelled through Dublin Airport in May this year, more than 17 times the numbers seen in May 2021 but still 13 per cent lower than pre-pandemic May 2019.

The volume of public transport journeys, meanwhile, again climbed in May following a sharp decline in 2020.

Journeys on Dublin Bus and Luas services continued to recover last month but remained below pre-Covid levels. The number of Luas journeys increased by 113 per cent in the first five months of the year.

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Commenting on the figures, Nele van der Wielen, statistician in the CSO’s Transport Division, said Luas passenger journeys increased by 8 per cent in one week last month, “the highest weekly rise since the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions in January”.

The CSO noted that public transport fares were reduced nationally at the beginning of last month.

In a bid to ease cost of living pressures, the National Transport Authority cut fares by an average of 20 per cent across all Transport for Ireland (TFI) services from May 9th.

In the capital, Dublin Bus, Luas and Dart fares were all slashed. The cross-service TFI 90-minute fare, introduced last year, was also reduced from €2.30 to €2 for adults and from 80c to 65c for children.

At the time, Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan said he hoped the fare reduction would make public transportation more attractive, particularly to young people.

In May, car traffic volumes in the capital also reached their highest levels yet this year, up 16 per cent compared with the same period in 2021.

Traffic count data has increased steadily throughout the first five months of 2022 following the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions earlier this year.

“In Dublin and selected regional sites car traffic volumes increased by 38 per cent and 39 per cent respectively between the first week of January and the last week of May,” the CSO said.

For the week beginning May 23rd, 2022, the CSO said car traffic volumes in Dublin were only 4 per cent lower than the same week in 2019.

Heavy Goods Vehicles traffic volumes were in line with 2021 levels, but were higher than 2019, according to the figures.