The 2023 Walking and Cycline Index was published in partnership with Sustrans and NTA across five different cities. 

Key findings from the Walking and Cycling Index include:

  • 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, while approximately one in two residents want to walk or wheel more, and approximately a third would like to cycle more
  • There is 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
  • There is a similar level of support for spending on cycling 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, 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 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.

The Walking and Cycling Index, the biggest assessment of cycling in urban areas in Ireland and the UK, is produced by sustainable transport charity Sustrans in partnership with city authorities.

 

More information here: https://www.nationaltransport.ie/publications/walking-and-cycling-index-2023-publication-reports/