More cyclists passed the same landmark Dublin location in one hour than drivers using the five-lane road at the same location.
A traffic counting exercise performed by Waterways Ireland recorded 1,400 cars passing over Leeson Street bridge during morning rush hour. However, in the same hour some 2,100 cyclists were counted passing the same spot on the cycling path.
And while cycling has increased during the pandemic, as vehicular traffic also plummeted for long periods, these latest findings are not influenced by the pandemic as they predate the outbreak of Covid-19.
Waterways Ireland carried out the traffic counting exercise on the morning of November 5th, 2019. The same count was not carried out last year due to the pandemic, meaning the 2019 data is the latest available.
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The figures are only emerging now because they have just been included in a Dublin City Council report about mobility during the pandemic period.
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Since the data was collected cycling has gone through something of a boom due to the pandemic. Many people turned to cycling as transport for work and college.
Furthermore, in the periods after lockdowns were lifted, a very significant spike in sales was experienced at bike shops, something stickybottle previously reported on.
Many bike shop owners in Ireland have reported a significant upturn in business for the full period since pandemic began in March, 2020. Bike shops were also classified as essential services during periods of lock-down, meaning they could remain open while most other businesses closed.
