Safety Indicators

Public Transport Accessibility Levels

This data shows that a greater proportion of Irish transport expenditure was spent on transport services compared to other peer countries. Only the United Kingdom is recorded as spending a greater proportion of transport expenditure on transport services over the period 2011-2021.

While the indicators discussed above provide an indicative sense of the level of sustainable accessibility provided by investments in public transport and active travel infrastructure and services, they have issues such as the use of selfreported data, or infrequent reporting periods.

This indicator can be used to provide useful insights on the accessibility of the transport system.

There is therefore a need for an indicator based on observed data, which is updated on a regular basis to provide insights into the level of sustainable accessibility provided by the transport network.

Safety Indicators

Road safety is another important aspect of wellbeing within the transport sector. Currently, data on the number of road fatalities per year is tracked by the Road Safety Authority (RSA) and reported as an indicator under the Safety and Security dimension of the CSO’s well-being dashboard. This indicator is also used to assess the performance of investment in the road network. However, as more road-space is reallocated to active travel, in order to achieve the walking and cycling modal shift targets set out in CAP23, and in order to support the monitoring of wellbeing when assessing the performance of Programme A, which relates to the provision of cycling and walking infrastructure, it may be useful to highlight the number of walking and cycling deaths or serious injuries that occur on Irish roads. These deaths could be reported as a proportion of the total number of fatalities.

A potential source of this indicator is the Public Transport Accessibility Levels (PTAL) tool. This tool was initially developed by Transport for London (TfL) to assess the level of accessibility provided by the transport network and is currently being adopted for an Irish context by the NTA39. The PTAL tool measures the connectedness of an area combining the walking/cycling journey time to a public transport stop and the level of service at that stop. In general, an area will have a higher PTAL score if:

ᴏ It is a short walk to the nearest station or stop

ᴏ There are short waiting times

ᴏ Multiple services pass by the stop

In the five years between 2021 and 2025, Active Travel Road User Fatalities (cyclists and pedestrians) accounted for roughly 1 in four (27.7%) of all road user deaths. During this fiveyear period, the proportion of Active Travel Road User fatalities ranged from 19.6% in 2021 to 32.2% in 2022.

ᴏ A major rail station is located in the area

Affordability Indicators

Another important element of the concept of well-being related to climate policy is ensuring that sustainable modes are affordable to transport users. This can be assessed through examining the proportion of total household expenditure spent on transport over time. As mentioned in the Department of Transport’s Spending Review 2023, the OECD reports on the percentage of a household budget spent on transport, which includes expenditure on private vehicles and operational expenditure on personal transport equipment.

Every Citizen is entitled to use our roads without concern for their safety. Tragically, road fatalities have significantly increased in the last number of years. As per the RSA’s 2025 provisional review of fatalities, there were 185 road fatalities in 2025, the highest since 2014 when the figure was 192.

Analysis of the provisional data for 2025 show that there were 174 fatal collisions resulting in 185 fatalities, representing an increase of 8% in deaths compared to the previous year.

The OECD also provides data on the proportion of household expenditure which is spent specifically on transport services such as the purchase of bus and rail tickets.

39 ABTA, How To Guide, Guidance Document - Pilot Methodology

By reporting on the proportion of active travel fatalities that occur, the Department of Transport can acknowledge trends in fatalities in a subgroup of road users which is important not only due to the tragic loss of life of the individuals involved but also because of the future needs and ambitions of the Department of Transport to decarbonise the transport sector.

The Transport Infrastructure Ireland, “Travelling in a Woman’s Shoes” Report found that creating a safer travelling environment and improving the perception of safety was particularly important for encouraging more women to engage in sustainable mobility. As above, the National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) captures data on the travel behaviour of the Irish public across different demographics including gender, and can be used to track any emerging trends particularly in travel by women.

While the tracking of adverse safety outcomes, such as the number of annual road deaths, provides useful information to support the monitoring of well-being, it is also important to assess factors which contribute to subjective well-being when travelling. One of these factors is perception of safety when using a transport service.

More broadly, it should be noted that CAP23 also introduces more detailed modal split targets setting out specific growth rates for the number of journeys undertaken by sustainable mode. This is aligned with adopting a sustainable accessibility approach to monitoring the implementation of the Climate Action Plans. The evaluation of the Climate Action Plans’ performance will also be reflected in the evaluation of the Strategy. The following represents the KPIs in CAP23 relevant to this Strategy.

Key Performance Indicators – Targeted Under CAP21 and CAP23

Area	CAP21 KPI	CAP23 KPI
Vehicle Kilometres	Reduce ICE km by 10%	Reduce total vehicles km by 20% Reduce total Car km by 20% Reduce “commuting” car km by 20%
Fuel Use	N/A	50% reduction in fuel usage
Sustainable Transport Journeys	125,000 additional public transport and active travel journeys, and the rolling out of sustainable demand management measures	50% increase in daily active travel journeys 130% increase in daily public transport journeys. 25% reduction in daily car journeys Daily Mode Share: 2018: 72% (car), 8% (PT), 20% (AT) 2030: 53% (car), 19% (PT), 28% (AT)
Escort to Education Journeys	N/A	30% shift to sustainable modes

The Strategy will also be reviewed, and recalibrated as necessary, to maximise its effect after three years following publication.