According to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office, 225,000 more people between 2002 and 2006 used motor vehicles to get to work.
The Travel to Work, School and College report gives detailed results of the census conducted on 23 April 2006.
Of the 1.7 million workers in Ireland, almost 1.1 million (57%) drove a car to work.
When combined with workers who travelled to work as car passengers or as van drivers, seven-out-of-ten workers were private vehicle users in 2006.
Of the 247,000 primary school children who were driven to school, 55% of the total were driven 1km or less.
Among secondary school students there was a marked difference in transport use between urban and rural dwellers.
More than half of children in rural areas take the bus compared with one-in-five in urban areas. In all, 45% were driven 4km or less to school.
Almost 1.2 million households had at least one car in 2006, which is an increase of 170,000 compared with 2002.
