In Cork, 75% of journeys into the city are by car

In Cork, 75% of journeys made into the city in 2024 were by car, with just 23% of the total being made by sustainable transport methods.

The use of green transport in Cork is lagging significantly behind other cities, according to the National Transport Authority (NTA), with fewer than 25% of all inward journeys made via bicycles or on public transport.

Surveys conducted by the NTA in 2024 across Ireland’s five major urban centres show that the three Munster cities — Cork, Waterford, and Limerick — are a lot further behind Galway and Dublin in embracing green transport.

Waterford showed the lowest level of sustainable adaptation, with trips into the city via green modes of transport accounting for just 16% of overall journeys; albeit 2024 saw a 38% increase in bus passengers across its city centre.

The statistics were delivered to the Public Accounts Committee yesterday, with NTA chief executive Anne Shaw stating that public transport use across the country “continues to grow at exceptional levels”.

REVERSAL

In Dublin, the figure was almost the complete reversal of the Cork statistic — with more than 74% of journeys into the city in 2024 made by sustainable means — the highest such statistic recorded in the near-50 years that the survey has been conducted.

Separately, Seamus McCarthy, the comptroller and auditor general, told the committee that a new traffic-management system for Ireland’s train network, first approved in 2019, will not now go live before November 2028, placing the project more than three years behind schedule, with cost overruns of some €41m.

The project — the construction of a central train-control building at Heuston Station in Dublin, which was completed in 2022; along with the development of the new system and an associated back-up —was initially budgeted at €148m, with the NTA currently estimating final costs to total €189m.

Addressing the committee, Hugh Creegan — the authority’s director of transport, planning, and investment — said that there is “still uncertainty” as to whether or not the final system will indeed be in place by the end of 2028.

He said that the software required and the overall transition to the new control system are “taking longer than expected”.

“While we’ve given the date of 2028, we can only firm up that date when we see how the first phase has gone, take the lessons from it, and apply it to the others,” Mr Creegan said.