A semi-annual survey released by the Healthy Trinity Smarter Travel group which measures the modes of commuting for Trinity students and staff has revealed that fewer students and staff are walking and cycling to university.
Since 2011, the Healthy Trinity Smarter Travel group has been conducting surveys to measure which modes of transport Trinity students and staff are using to commute into college.
This survey was taken in April 2023. It found that one third of students use the bus, 20 per cent take the train and 13 per cent travel by Luas, while 20 per cent walk and 9 percent cycle into College.
Over the past few years the number of students and staff walking and cycling into College has been steadily declining whilst the number using public transport has been increasing.
The number of students walking into College hit its high in 2018 at 28 per cent whilst the number of students cycling has fallen by over 50 per cent from its high of 22 per cent in 2011.
The survey also measures how far students and staff are travelling when they commute into College. The proportion of students travelling between four and six kilometres has dropped by 14 per cent since the survey started in 2011, whilst the amount of students travelling over 25 per cent has increased by 5 per cent.
The academics who helped to collect the data reflected that the decrease in students and staff cycling and walking was likely due to a combination of the cheapening price of public transport for young people since last year’s budget and the housing crisis in Dublin which is pushing students and staff out of the city centre as it becomes increasingly unaffordable.
