More people ditch their cars to take up 'active travel' but carpooling still lags behind

Cycling journeys rose from 1.5% in 2019 to just over 2% in 2021. File picture: Larry Cummins

Walking and cycling journeys crept upward last year in the throes of the Covid-19 pandemic, while driving is slowly falling, according to fresh data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

With a renewed focus on so-called "active travel" by the Government and various health and environmental bodies in recent years, the 2021 figures represent an improvement in recent years on a society dominated by car journeys - but the data show there is a long way to go.