The transport module focuses on four modes of transport: public transport, private transport, other transport services, and active travel.
Respondents will be asked if they use any public transport services, including public bus (city, intercity, rural), taxi or hackney, light rail (DART, Luas), trains (commuter, intercity), or door-to-door (such as TFI-Anseo).
Respondents will then be asked a series of questions relating to public transport, including frequency of use of each public transport option, overall satisfaction with each service they use, if they have a travel pass and whether they transfer between services. If they are unsatisfied with a mode of public transport, they will be asked what the reason is.
For those who do not report using any of the above public transport options they will be asked if they would like to use the service. If so, they will be asked what barriers are preventing them from using the service across a range of themes, including accessibility, information and service issues.
Respondents will be asked if they use private transport as a driver or as a passenger. Respondents will then be asked a series of questions relating to private transport, including, if they have access to the vehicle when required, and if they avail of a parking permit.
For those who do not report using private transport, they will be asked if they would like to use this mode of transport. If so, they will be asked what barriers are preventing them from using the private transport.
Respondents will be asked a series of questions relating to use of any other transport services. This relates to non-public services, for example those provided by disability services, elderly centres, private bus companies, and voluntary organisations.
For those who do not report using other transport, they will be asked if they would like to use this mode of transport. If so, they will be asked what barriers are preventing them from using other transport.
The Department of Transport defines Active Travel as ‘travelling with a purpose, using your own energy’. For example, walking, cycling, wheeling, and scooting, to make journeys to work, school or the shops are all considered forms of Active Travel. Active Travel is a new transport category added since the 2006 survey.
Respondents will be asked if they use any form of active travel when making day-to-day journeys, including cycling, walking or running, wheeling, or scooting.
For those who do not report using active travel, they will be asked if they would like to use this mode of transport. If so, they are asked what barriers prevent them from using the active travel.
There were requests for us to collect more information on purpose of journey, detail on successes or benefits of transport use, awareness of transport schemes, and whether the participant uses public transport independently or requires a companion. These topics were ranked lower than topics retained for inclusion.
For private transport uses, there was interest to collect data on whether the vehicle was electric, the vehicle year, whether the vehicle was modified, and who the main driver of the private vehicle was. We recognise that this would be valuable information, but it would require a significant number of questions, and we have decided to prioritise other topics for which there was a greater demand by data users.
Unlike the 2006 survey, we will not be including a question on the level of difficulty experienced when using each transport mode. Removing questions will make room for other new content, such as active travel.
Stakeholders recommended that certain information be included for some, but not all transport types. This was to ensure the transport module was not overly burdensome to participants. Frequency of use was deprioritised for all transport types except public.