The proportion of people using public transport to access Dublin city reached its highest ever level last year with almost six out of every 10 commuters taking buses, trains and trams for their journey.
The latest results of the annual Canal Cordon Report show 58.3% of all people travelling into the city centre during morning rush hours used public transport in 2023, up from its pre-pandemic peak of 53.5% in 2019.
The growing popularity of public transport is linked to the declining use of private vehicles with cars accounting for just 25.3% of all inbound passengers to the city last year - the lowest share on record and down from a peak of almost 40% in 2010.
A total of 48,035 commuters used a car to access the city centre in 2023, down almost 10,000 compared to 2019, which was the last full, pre-pandemic calendar year.
The figure was also down 2% on 2022 levels.
The report, which was conducted last November, measures the transport modes used by inbound commuters at 33 locations around the cordon formed by the Royal Canal and Grand Canal during peak morning traffic between 7am and 10am.
It also incorporates figures on the number of commuters on public transport vehicles collated by Dublin Bus, Iarnród Éireann and Transport Infrastructure Ireland for bus, rail and Luas services respectively.
Comparisons in the survey, which is carried out by the National Transport Authority and Dublin City Council, are mostly made with 2019 due the large-scale restrictions on movement introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic which affected commuting levels in 2020 and 2021.
The total number of people using public transport last year was up 13.4% annually to 110,775.
The growth was driven by a 26% increase in passengers on Luas services to 13,348, while rail commuters were up over 18% to 29,978.
The latest figures mean 7.3% of all journeys were by tram in 2023 - the highest ever share recorded for Luas services.
Buses remain the single most important transport mode for commuters in the capital, accounting for over 35% of all journeys.
Last year, passenger numbers on bus services were up 9% to just under 67,000.
However, the NTA pointed out that while there has been a 2% increase in Dublin Bus services crossing the cordon since 2019, there has been a decrease of 33% in bus services operated by Bus Éireann and private firms.
When public transport journeys are added to the number of people cycling and walking to the city centre, the proportion of commuters using sustainable transport modes is also at a record level of 74%, up from 72% in 2019.
The survey shows numbers commuting on foot were up 5% last year to over 17,800 but there was a slight decrease in the number of people cycling, down 1% to around 9,400 which is considerably below the 2019 peak of over 13,100.
In the longer term, the NTA believes the Bus Connects project, increased rail capacity and the development of a network of cycle routes in Dublin as well as the proposed Metro system will all help to increase numbers using sustainable transport modes.
Reductions were also recorded last year in the number of commuters travelling into the city centre by taxis, motorcycles and goods vehicles.
The NTA said substantial changes in the need to travel for work are likely to have affected the results of the Canal Cordon survey since the Covid-19 pandemic due to increases in the number of people working from home.
Separate figures published by the Central Statistics Office show that 40% of employees in Dublin now work one or more days per week from home.
The total number of daily commuters travelling into the city centre at 189,904 in 2023 remains over 27,000 below pre-pandemic levels.
"The overall decrease of 12.6% in inbound journeys is a result of the significant impact the shift from a five-day in-office week to hybrid working has had on working patterns and will continue to influence travel trends in the future," the NTA said.
At the same time, the growing switch to public transport last year has seen the number of passengers on bus, trains and trams return to 95% of pre-pandemic levels.
The latest figures also indicate that the trend of the declining car use by commuters does not appear to have been affected by the pandemic in the longer term as private car use is down by 14% compared to 2019.
The number of cars crossing the cordon last year at 39,698 is down 33% from the 2008 peak of almost 59,000 vehicles.
