This indicator refers travel behaviours of persons in Ireland. It includes data relating to modes of travel and purpose of journeys.
It is internationally accepted that the most comprehensive method to collect data on travel behaviour is to have respondents complete a seven-day travel diary. However, to reduce respondent burden and increase response rates, many countries have adopted an alternative method of collecting data for a 24-hour period. To ensure that data was collected for all seven days of the week, each person participating in the National Travel Survey (NTS) was assigned a selected ‘travel reference day’. The travel reference day was a maximum of three days prior to the day on which the interview was conducted to ensure that recall was not compromised.
Only travel within the island of Ireland, made by residents of the State, was included in the survey. While the NTS collected information on work-related travel for most occupations, it excluded the business-related travel of professional drivers (e.g. bus and taxi drivers) and other occupations where travel is integral to the role (e.g. postal delivery workers). It is important to note, when interpreting the figures and comparing them to other data sources, that the NTS journey purpose of 'work' includes both commuter and business travel.
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