Drop in number of people commuting into city centre on pre-pandemic levels

The number of people travelling into Dublin city centre during the morning rush hour has significantly decreased from pre-pandemic levels.

According to the new Canal Cordon Report by the National Transport Authority (NTA) and Dublin City Council, 40,000 fewer commuters were making the daily trip last year compared to 2019.

Overall, the report found that there was an 18 percent reduction in all forms of transport used to commute into the city centre since before the pandemic.

This includes a 31 percent drop in the number of pedestrians entering the city centre in 2022 as well as a 28 percent decrease in cyclists.

There was also a 13 percent reduction in the number of private cars across the year.

“When considering the trend data it is important to note the shift from the traditional 5 day working week pattern (pre 2019) to hybrid and working from home patterns that have emerged since the pandemic,” the report says.

“The number of persons usually working from home saw a sharp rise since pre COVID-19 pandemic levels, increasing from 169,300 in Q3 2019 to 574,100 (+239.1%) in Q3 2022.

“This cohort accounts for 22.5% of persons in employment in Q3 2022.

“When broken down by region of residence, Dublin had the highest proportion of persons employed who usually work from home, increasing from 6.5% in Q3 2019 to 30.0% in Q3 2022.”

The survey, conducted by the NTA and Dublin City Council last November, measured the transport modes by inbound commuters at 33 points along the cordon created by the Royal and Grand

Canal at morning rush hour – between 7am and 10am.

A total of 177,243 people commuted into the city in 2022 compared to 217,223 in 2019, with 55 percent of commuters using public transport.

The survey found that the “number of pedestrians crossing the canal cordon has decreased from 24,691 in 2019 to 16,951 in 2022, a decrease of over 31 percent or 7,740 people.

This was the lowest annual total since 2011 excluding the years affected by the pandemic.

Since 2010, there was a steady growth in the number of people commuting into the city centre via bicycle but this figure was eroded during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Last year, 9,486 cyclists crossed the canal, almost 3,500 below 2019.

“Between 2019 and 2022, there was an overall decrease in the number of buses crossing the cordon from 1,852 to 1,642,” the report said.

“However, within this total, Dublin Bus vehicle numbers increased by 4% whereas buses operated by Bus Éireann and private operators have displayed a significant decreasing trend of 41 percent.

“In the period 2006 – 2022, the total number of buses crossing the cordon has decreased by two percent.”

There was also a severe drop in the number of taxis crossing the cordon last year, down 25 percent or 1,055 to 3,327, while the number of motorcycles was down 38 percent to 928.