Cars dominate Cork city: Full capacity transport usage could cut car journeys by 80%

Almost 70% of Cork city buses that ran over an observed 12-hour period were less than half full, a survey by the National Transport Authority (NTA) has shown amid ongoing concerns about bus reliability.

The report features data collected over a 12-hour period from 7am to 7pm on one day in 2023 across the cordon, a boundary around the city used for traffic surveys.

Private car usage dominates travel into the city, with nearly two thirds of all cars having just one person in them, the recently published Cork City Cordon Survey shows.

In total, the NTA calculated 209,123 people making inbound trips, but just 42,179 or 20% of these were using sustainable transport modes.

The report counted 5,439 pedestrians, 686 on bikes, 496 on motorbikes, 4,399 on trains, and 31,655 on buses. A total of 140,370 vehicles were counted, with 81% of these, or 113,874, being cars, followed by 12% goods vehicles and 2% taxis.

Just 1% — 1,214 vehicles — were buses, and though they carried 31,655 people, they were on average less than 44% full.

Between 7am and 7pm, 53% of buses were at 25-49% capacity; 16% were at 0-24%; 20% were at 50-74% capacity; 8% were at 75-99% capacity; and just 3% were at 100% capacity.

Had all bus seats been filled, 73,613 additional people could have been accommodated. The survey also showed there were an average of 1.72 people per taxi, and just 1.42 people per car. Around 90,892 cars, or 80% of the total, could have been removed from the road if all cars, taxis, and buses operated at full capacity.

Labour Party councillor and chair of the transport SPC, Peter Horgan, told The Echo that, while this data is from 2023 and capacity on public transport has been somewhat improved, “it is still concerning”.

“It’s vital that we increase usage and show commuters it’s cheaper and faster to utilise public transport, but that requires more confidence-building after the ghost bus and driver availability issues of recent months.”

There have been ongoing concerns raised about bus reliability in the city. An FOI by The Echo showed that, in the first six months of 2024, 58% of Cork city buses were on time, 35% of them arrived late, and 7% left a stop early.

Approximately 10% of scheduled kilometres were not operated at all in the first six months of 2024.

Complaints about city buses last year, also seen via FOI, said buses “consistently got cancelled” and bus times “cannot be trusted”, with one complainant adding: “I’m driving from now on as I cannot trust the service.”

Mr Horgan called for a ramping up of the new BusConnects routes, and suggested a system providing unlimited usage of Irish public transport for €9 a month.

“There is no silver bullet for Cork transport, but relying exclusively on cars is not the way forward for a city that must serve people,” he added.

Green Party councillor Oliver Moran highlighted that the report doesn’t include people beginning their journey inside the city cordon, who are less likely to be in cars.

However, he said: “Digging a little deeper into the numbers, what stands out for me is the number of single-occupancy cars coming into the city centre.”

Compared to the amount of people per car, “the equivalent number for a bus or train is 26 commuters in every bus and 49 on every train”.

“It’s just not sustainable to think that more and more single-occupancy vehicles can arrive into the city centre.”

He added that proposed expansion of Cork commuter rail is “the kind of investment we need to begin freeing up the city centre”.