IRISH PEOPLE USE public transport less often than almost every single other country in the EU.

A survey across the European Union found just 8 per cent of Irish people use public transport once a day, second only to Cyprus at 3 per cent.

Ireland tied with Slovenia and the Netherlands, well behind the EU average of 16 per cent.

Perhaps unsurprisingly given those findings, the survey also found that Irish people use their cars more than almost all the other EU countries.

More than two-thirds of Irish respondents (68 per cent) drive their car every day, once again coming second only to Cyrpus at 85 per cent.

By contrast, the average across the 28 EU countries is just 50 per cent.

The Eurobarometer survey on urban mobility found half (50 per cent) of Irish respondents say dropping the price of public transport would make people more likely to travel to other cities.

Almost half (45 per cent) of Irish respondents described road congestion as a fairly important problem within cities while 41 per cent said travel costs were an important issue.

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However Irish people are generally optimistic about traffic – almost 40 per cent said they believe traffic in cities will improve in the future, compared to an EU average of just 24 per cent, while 29 per cent think traffic is going to get worse.

The survey of 1,001 people was carried out in face-to-face interviews.