The number of Dubliners using bicycles on an almost daily basis has increased by 50 per cent in just two years, according to new research from the National Transport Authority (NTA).
The vast majority of residents across the State’s five main cities want increased investment in cycling infrastructure, even when that results in less road space for cars, the NTA’s 2025 Walking and Cycling Index has found.
Adults who cycle, walk, or wheel using mobility aids in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford are collectively taking 660,000 cars off the road each day and saving 120,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, the NTA said.
Surveys of more than 1,100 people in each city carried out for the NTA by Ipsos B&A found a strong desire for better active travel infrastructure, with people in particular seeking the construction of segregated cycling lanes.
In Waterford, 86 per cent supported building cycle tracks physically separated from traffic and pedestrians, even where that means less room for other traffic. In Galway, that figure was 82 per cent, Cork 73 per cent, Dublin 71 per cent and Limerick 69 per cent.
The surveys conducted from April to June 2025 were representative of all residents over 16 years, not just those who cycle, walk or wheel, the NTA said.
Detailed data for Dublin shows the number of adults cycling five or more days a week has increased from 8 per cent in 2023 to 12 per cent in 2025. A quarter cycle at least once a week.
Dubliners made 92.2 million trips by bicycle in 2025 totalling 384.9 million km, the equivalent of cycling 26 times around the world every day the NTA said.
The number of Dubliners using bicycles to commute to work increased from 23.2 million trips in 2023 to 30 million in 2025, up from 27 per cent to 33 per cent of all cycling trips taken.
Dublin schoolchildren took six million cycle trips in 2025, up from 3.3 million in 2023, an increase from 4 per cent of all trips to 7 per cent of all trips.
However, cycling in Dublin is seen as less safe than other forms of transport. Although 90 per cent of residents think it is safe to drive in their local area, and 87 per cent found it safe to walk or wheel, and a similar number, 86 per cent, safe to use public transport, only 59 per cent thought their area was safe for cycling. An even lower level, 48 per cent, thought it was safe for children to cycle in their local area.
There was particularly strong support for reducing speed limits in residential areas, with 78 per cent supporting a 30km/h speed limit on local roads in built-up areas.
Dubliners also supported a shift in investment from road-building schemes to fund walking, wheeling, cycling and public transport, with 70 per cent in favour and 12 per cent opposed.
There was also strong support for enforcement of the law against parking on footpaths, with 87 per cent supporting “stopping vehicles parking on the footpath” and just 4 per cent opposed.
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Across all five cities, residents had broadly similar responses to questions on what would encourage more active travel, the NTA said. In relation to walking and wheeling, all strongly advocated for ending the practice of cars parking on footpaths, investing in improved footpath surfaces, and introducing more crossing points with reduced waiting times at pedestrian lights.
In addition to segregated cycle lanes, residents also sought traffic-free paths through parks or greenways, and signed cycle routes along quieter streets.