6,292 people commute from Bray to Dublin and suburbs daily

ALMOST 70 per cent of commuters in Wicklow travel to work by car according to the latest figures.

Last Thursday, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) published Census 2016 Profile 6 ‘Commuting in Ireland’, which shows that in April 2016 the number of people travelling to work, school or college stood at 2,962,550 nationally, an increase of 9.3 per cent on 2011.

There were 1,875,773 people commuting to work in April 2016, an increase of 10.7 per cent on 2011. There were large increases in bus and train use (up 22 per cent and 19.7 per cent respectively), while the number cycling to work rose by 43 per cent on 2011.

The figures from Census 2016 show that the majority of working commuters in the Garden County travel by car. In April 2016, 37,952 people living and working in County Wicklow (69.2 per cent) travelled to work by car, compared to 65.6 per cent of commuters nationally.

While 9.3 per cent of working commuters nationally used public transport, in Wicklow 10.5 per cent of working commuters did so. A further 1.0 per cent cycled, while 7.0 per cent walked.

Commuting times rose in every county and the national average commuting time in April 2016 was 28.2 minutes, up from 26.6 minutes in 2011. Commuters in Wicklow had an average travel time of 34.5 minutes, compared to 32.2 minutes in 2011.

Just over one in five Wicklow commuters (20.3 per cent) were travelling for less than 15 minutes, compared to 22.6 per cent in Census 2011. Nationally, 22.9 per cent of commuters had a commute of under 15 minutes. In April 2016, 20.1 per cent of commuters in the county spent an hour or more travelling compared to 16.9 per cent in 2011, while 4.7 per cent had a commute of over 90 minutes, as against 3.7 per cent five years previously.

There were 23,871 Wicklow residents working in the county, while 8,680 people commuted into the county for work. A further 23,451 people commuted to work outside the county, giving a net loss of 14,771 in the working population.

The number of secondary school children walking to school increased by 131 to 2,634, accounting for 24.1 per cent of secondary students, while 41.6 per cent went to school by car, compared to 39.4 per cent in 2011. Just over one in four (25.6 per cent) travelled by bus, while 1.0 per cent cycled to school.

The percentage of people commuting by car in Wicklow (69.2 per cent) is more than the numbers travelling by car in both Leinster (59.9 per cent) and the state (65.6 per cent).

Public transport commuters in Wicklow account for 10.5 per cent compared to 14.3 per cent in Leinster and 9.3 per cent nationally.

Cycling commuters in Wicklow account for one per cent of commuters which is far lower than Leinster 4.3 per cent and the country as a whole three per cent. Similarly those commuting on foot in Wicklow (7 per cent) is lower than Leinster (10 per cent) and the country as a whole 9.3 per cent.

A total of 2,555 people (4.7 per cent) in Wicklow face a commute of 90 minutes or more. This com- pares with 3.1 per cent of Leinster commuters and 2.8 per cent nationally. 20.1 per cent of Wicklow commuters have a commute of an hour or more compared to 12.9 per cent in Leinster and 10.7 per cent nationally.

A total of 20.3 per cent of Wicklow commuters have a journey of less than 15 compared to 18.7 per cent in Leinster and 22.9 per cent nationally.

In terms of the number of commuters in and out of Wicklow the county fares very poorly in comparison with the rest of Leinster. The CSO figures show that 23,871 Wicklow commuters are working within the county while 8,680 people are travelling into Wicklow to work from outside the county. A total of 23,451 people are travelling outside the county to work giving a net loss of 14,771 in working population.

In Leinster 524,332 people are working within their county of residence while 391,656 are commuting into the county to work. 380,512 people are travelling outside the area to work giving a net gain of 11,144 in working population.

Nationally where there is a net loss in working population of 9,854 compared to Wicklow’s net loss of 14,771.

Nearly 6,300 workers travelled from Bray to work in Dublin. Sixty per cent travelled by car , 20 per cent took the train and 10 per cent used the bus. Nearly half of Greystones workers commuted to Dublin and 25 per cent of them travelled by train, 66 per cent travelled by car. Three quarters of these workers left before 8 a.m.

Almost four in five of Wicklow town’s commuters to Dublin travelled by car. Almost 30 per cent of these left for work between 6.30 a.m. and 7 a.m.

In Blessington, 84 per cent of commuters into Dublin travelled by car with half of these leaving for work before 7.30 a.m.

When it comes to schoolchildren (aged five to 12 years), a 23 per cent walk to school, compared to 30.3 per cent in Leinster and 23.5 per cent nationally. 63.4 per cent of children travel by car compared to 53.8 per cent in Leinster and 59.8 per cent nationally.

In Wicklow 8.8 per cent travel by bus compared to 8.6 per cent in Leinster and 10.3 per cent nationally. The remaining 0.8 per cent in Wicklow cycle compared to 1.9 per cent and 1.3 per cent.

2,634 Wicklow school and college students (aged 13 to 18 years) walk to school, which is 24.1 per cent. This compares to 26.9 per cent in Leinster and 21.2 per cent nationally. 41.6 per cent travel by car in Wicklow (compared to 37.2 per cent in Leinster and 43.4 per cent nationally) and 25.6 per cent by bus (compared to 26.3 per cent in Leinster and 28.5 per cent nationally).

One per cent of teens travel to school or college by bike in Wicklow compared to 3.3 per cent in Leinster and 2.1 per cent nationally.

“The number cycling to work in co Wicklow is 1%”