Percentage of Urban Road Space Designated to Vehicles

Transport, particularly from congested traffic, is a significant contributor to nitrogen dioxide (NOx) which is more of an issue in towns and cities. Given the localised impact that many demand management measures could have, the EPA’s monitoring and reporting of air quality to ensure compliance with limits under the EU’s Ambient Air Quality Directive provides the basis for assessing the potential impacts of any interventions, particularly in areas at risk of exceedances. As such, the annual Air Quality in Ireland Report will be used to track progress in improving transportrelated air quality.

undertaken nationally have a duration of less than 30 minutes (74%). Tracking the number of journeys over a specific distance would be useful too e.g. journeys of less than 2km.

The NHTS also includes respondents’ selfreported 15-minute walk time to a variety of amenities such as a health centre, post-office or public transport stop. This could also be used to track the relationship with transport and landuse planning including concepts such as the 15-minute city.

Both surveys have merits, and the latest figures for 2019 - 2024 will serve as the baseline for measuring future performance. In December 2023, the CSO launched their new Transport Hub which will replace the Transport Omnibus and will house all their transport-related statistics in one area for ease of access and will be a useful resource for tracking performance in meeting the objectives of this Strategy. For example, TII traffic counter data is now available, and odometer readings from the NCT will be available in the Hub. Statistics on a broad range of topics, including journey times, are also integrated into the Regional Development Monitor Hub maintained by the Regional Assemblies in collaboration with the All Island Research Observatory and Ordnance Survey Ireland (via GeoHive).

From an acute health perspective, changes in acute hospital admissions for respiratory (asthma & COAD) and cardiac conditions may also be evaluated over time.

NTA National Household Travel Survey

The NTA’s National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) is a nationwide study of Ireland’s travel habits. From 2023 onwards, this is an annual survey and as such will give the most up-to-date information. The CSO’s National Travel Survey (NTS) is also worth utilising although there are a number of similarities between both.

The CSO’s NTS was last carried out in 2019, and the next iteration is expected shortly. The sample for this survey is stratified using administrative county and population density. The sample used in the NTA’s NHTS is weighted using population estimates from the CSO Labour Force Survey (LFS).

Economic Cost of Congestion

As outlined earlier in this Strategy, the department prepares regular reports that detail the likely economic cost of congestion to Irish cities, most recently the Economic Cost of Congestion in the Regional Cities 2022 – 2040.

The NHTS collects information on distance, duration and mode of transport used, making it a useful tool for measuring success. For in-depth analysis, it looks at travel in six regions Dublin City and suburbs, the GDA, the regional cities, urban towns, rural areas and other urban districts. The most recent NHTS highlights the dominance of car travel, with seven in 10 (71%) trips being made by car across Ireland. This is in line with the 2022 Census results.

Future studies by the Department will capture any changes in trends related to congestion – positive or negative - following the implementation of demand management measures.

Percentage of Urban Road Space Designated to Vehicles

As road space reallocation is expected to play a significant role in transport demand reduction, it is proposed to explore a mechanism whereby LAs would catalogue their public space on an annual basis to better understand how such space is used and to track reductions in the percentage of public space dedicated to private and commercial

Tracking the profile of private car journeys is also important. As well as tracking the distance and duration of journeys as part of the National Travel Survey (NTS), the NHTS collects information on the distance, duration and mode used. For example, it notes that the majority of car journeys