Walking and Cycling takes 16,000 cars off the road every day in the Waterford Metropolitan Area, according to the 2023 Walking and Cycling Index, published in partnership with Sustrans and the National Transport Authority. The report has been launched across the five cities by the various local authorities involved in the publications.
Key findings from the Walking and Cycling Index
Key findings from the Walking and Cycling Index include:
- 52% adult residents walk 5 or more days a week, 64% use car 5 or more days a week
- 16% of adults cycle at least once a week
- 76% of residents support building cycle tracks physically separated from traffic and pedestrians even where that means less room for other traffic
- Every day those who walk and cycle takes nearly 16,000 cars off the road in the Waterford Metropolitan Area. If all these case were in a traffic jam it would tail back 78 kilometres equivalent to the distance from Waterford City to Rosslare
- Residents walking, wheeling and cycling create an annual economic benefit for individuals and the Waterford Metropolitan Area of €80.5 million
- Walking and cycling improves public health in the Waterford Metropolitan Area and saves the HSE €2.67million equivalent to the cost of over 47,900 GP appointments.
- Those walking and cycling instead of driving, save greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 61,300 flights from Dublin Airport to London Heathrow Airport.
- There is a €1.40 net economic benefit for each km cycled instead of driven and €0.94 net economic benefit for each km walked instead of driven.
The Walking and Cycling Index, the biggest assessment of cycling in urban areas in Ireland and the UK, is produced by sustainable transport charity Sustrans (www.sustrans.org.uk/walkingcyclingindex) in partnership with city authorities.
The information in the report comes from local cycling data, modelling and an independent, demographically representative survey of more than 1,100 residents from across the Waterford Metropolitan Area, whether they cycled or not.
Documents below.
- Walking and Cycling Index 2023 Waterford Metropolitan Area (low resolution)
- High resolution file attached below
- Walking and Cycling Index 2023 Waterford Metropolitan Area IRISH
Extra Background Documents below
- For asummary of the overall Walking and Cycling Index methodology see Data Sources and Methodologies.
- For details on the residents survey see the Survey Questionnaire
- Sustrans Data Dashboard: Sustrans has interactive dashboards available that can be used to explore the data: https://www.sustrans.org.uk/the-walking-and-cycling-index/walking-and-cycling-index-data-tool
