File photo of traffic in Dublin city. Source: Sam Boal/RollingNews.ie

PEOPLE IN DUBLIN have the fifth longest average commuting time in the European Union, according to new research.

The average daily commute in Dublin is almost one hour, compared to less than 45 minutes in the rest of the country.

The four cities with the longest average commute times are Budapest, Paris, Amsterdam and London (the research was carried out before Britain left the EU), with the average commute in the first two cities close to 70 minutes.

Source: Eurofound

Eurofound, which carries out pan-European surveys, compiled the commuting times as part of an analysis of the 2016 European Quality of Life Survey.

Despite commuting times generally being longer in capital cities, residents still rate the quality of public transport higher than the population in the rest of country – highlighting that greater connectivity and choice available in urban areas.

Life satisfaction

The research found that, as well as typically having longer commute times, urban residents are more likely to report environmental problems, such as lack of access to recreational or green areas; litter; noise; and traffic congestion. However, they generally report an overall better quality of life and higher life satisfaction.

Dublin ranked sixth in the survey in terms of life satisfaction – behind Copenhagen, Luxembourg, Stockholm, Helsinki and London.

People were also asked about their resilience or ability to cope during times of hardship such as an economic recession.

“Generally, capital cities have lower proportions of people who report low resilience compared to the rest of the country.

“There are two notable exceptions – Dublin and London – that exceed both the EU average of 14% and the figure for the rest of the country by a large margin.

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“Both these cities have high living costs and a shortage of affordable accommodation,” the report notes.