A new survey of Irish driver attitudes has found that only one-in-ten of all drivers in Ireland would be prepared to give up their car in the next five years.
Multiple transport modes
The survey was carried out by Bolt, a mobility and ride-sharing app. Aisling Dunne, Head of Public Policy for Bolt Ireland said: "Bolt's mission is to reduce the need for private car ownership through offering multiple transport modes in the same app. We believe Ireland has amongst the highest potential for doing this, as there is intrinsic high car usage but many journeys are short. Our research supports the clear willingness to look at alternatives and is the start of a major drive from Bolt to track sentiment. With our suite of offerings, we want to support drivers taking the initiative to give up the private car with long term choices."
When asked if they would be prepared to give up their car and move to public transport in the next five years, only 11.6 per cent of Irish drivers answered 'yes.' However, there is, it would seem, an appetite for public transport alternatives if they were made more available. 38 per cent said that they are trying to cut back on car journeys each week. Of those, 43 per cent said that they were trying to reduce the number of recreational trips, while 33 per cent said that they wanted to reduce commuting drives. 27 per cent said that they would try to cut back on using their car for shopping.
Rising cost of motoring
Of the 500 people polled, 51 per cent said that the rising cost of motoring was making them think about reducing their car use or giving up driving altogether. 50 per cent specifically blamed higher fuel costs, while 26 per cent cited "environmental reasons." Respondents also factored in improvements in public transport (24 per cent) and lack of car parking spaces (13 per cent) as additional reasons to give up the car.
In terms of how people would cope without a car, 37 per cent said that they would switch to using the bus, while 12 per cent will take a train - that latter figure presumably influenced by Ireland's sparse rail network. 15 per cent would cycle, and eight per cent would consider an electric scooter. 10 per cent would switch to a taxi, while 11 per cent "would be open to the idea of car rental."
Car sharing crucial
Bolt says that the figures reveal a need for more car-sharing, citing the 72 per cent of respondents who said that "they would need to hire a car at least once per week if they were to give up the use of their private vehicle." There are currently fewer than 1,000 car club vehicles in Ireland. Research shows you need one per 1000 people to make an impact on behaviour, leaving Ireland over five times short. Concurrent research conducted by Bolt shows availability, price and the flexibility of the service to be key factors holding back this market
"One of Bolt's fastest-growing services is its car club offering, Bolt Drive, and we see Ireland as having strong characteristics to reach world-leading levels of shared car ownership. We're seeing significant shifts in how people use these services within our 'free floating' model in Tallinn, and our evidence shows this additional flexibility is being sought by Dublin drivers" said Dunne.