A record number of people used public transport last year - but some services have experienced capacity challenges as a result of the rise in numbers.
New figures from the National Transport Authority show public transport use rose by almost 25% compared to 2022.
It was up by 5% when compared to 2019.
308 million journeys were made last year which is higher than pre-pandemic levels.
The NTA has also described the numbers using some new regional bus services as "staggering".
Dublin Bus, Bus Éireann and Iarnród Éireann say they experienced some capacity issues as a result of the increased numbers
Iarnród Éireann said their issues were mainly on intercity routes, but that they expect pressure to eased with the introduction of new carriages over the coming months.
CEO of the National Transport Authority Anne Graham said that she hopes increased resources will help meet the rising demand.
"A growth of 24% right across our services does introduce capacity issues in some places so we do need to respond with our operators to put in additional capacity where we find those pinch points and we will see new infrastructure coming on, new bus infrastructure, new rail infrastructure this year in order to be able to deal with those capacity issues."
She also said that while population growth between 2019 and 2023 accounted for some of the increase, overall more were using public transport despite remote working with off-peak times and weekends also seeing a surge in demand.
"There is an increase population and increase in economic activity and that does feed into usage but at the same time I think it's also around the additional services that we've put in place, additional frequency right across Ireland and the fare reductions as well."
The Dublin Commuter Coalition says the increase passenger numbers, particularly on buses, show the need for buses to be given more road space.
The group's communications manager Gary Marshall said he would like to see better priority given to buses with more lanes, bus gates, and camera enforcement.
He said passengers who find themselves on buses that are stuck behind a row of cars may feel encouraged to use their own vehicles again.
"We really are happy with the numbers but we want to see them going up and the services improving." he said.
The rise coincides with a cut in fares in the first half of last year and the introduction of dozens of new services across the country.
Last April the NTA reduced adult fares by 20% and child fares by 50%.
The measures was extended in Budget 2024 for a year.
The Government also pledged to introduce free travel for under-18s, with discussions on this ongoing.
Last year was also the first time passenger numbers exceeded 300 million.
Dublin Bus carried more than 145 million passengers last year, a 20% increase on 2022.
Bus Éireann served in excess of 44 million passengers up from 35 million passengers the previous year.
Go-Ahead Ireland's Dublin Metropolitan Area bus services carried more than 16 million passengers up from 12.5 million in 2022.
48.2 million passengers used the Luas, 35% more than in 2022.
Iarnród Éireann had 45.5 million passenger journeys up from 35.8 million in 2022 and have returned their services to 90% of pre-pandemic demand.
Local Link bus services, connecting towns and townlands in rural Ireland, carried 3.2 million passengers in 2023, compared to the 1.8 million in 2022.
This service had 60 routes added or enhanced last year.
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On one Bus Éireann service, the 270 from Killarney to Skibbereen, passenger numbers rose 250% after two other services were introduced to integrate with the route.
Two new bus town bus services were also put into operation in Carlow and Clonmel in late 2023.
35,000 a month are using the Carlow service since it began in August while 14,000 used the Clonmel service in its first month of operation in December.
The Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan said the figures showed that public transport has turned a significant corner.
"It shows that when you provide good transport services people flock to them, in both urban and rural areas.
"This year we will continue to invest in and improve transport services with more town buses, more rural services and progression on transformative Bus Corridors in our cities, now starting to come out of planning."
