THE NUMBER OF journeys on public transport and commercial bus services has increased by almost 31 million since 2013, new figures from the National Transport Authority (NTA) have shown.

Last year, there were 236 million journeys on public transport compared to 210 million back in 2013.

All operators have experienced an increase in that three-year period with Dublin Bus going from 112 million to 125 million; Bus Éireann from 29 million to 32 million; Iarnród Éireann up six million to 43 million. The Luas also experienced a three million rise up to 34 million.

The NTA said that although a drop off in demand for public transport was witnessed during the downturn, growth in total passenger journeys over the past three years has been strong.

Anne Graham, CEO of the NTA, said that the figures are an indication that there is a demand for an “efficient and reliable” public transport service.

“It is also remarkable that we have been able to accommodate this increase in passenger numbers with virtually no increase in Public Service Obligation operating capacity as measured by seat kilometres nor in the number of licensed commercial bus operators.

“In other words, transport operators across the State have managed to sweat their fleet assets to the greatest possible extent to provide services for the greatest possible number of people.

But there’s only so much that can be done within the current constraints and we are now at the point where we need significant investment to address the burgeoning problem of congestion.

Read: One US lotto player won $758 million dollars overnight >

Read: 11 minutes of mindfulness enough to make heavy drinkers cut back on alcohol, study says >