MORE THAN HALF of Irish people drive on a daily basis, and 30 per cent of people agree that a ‘pay-as-you-drive’ scheme should replace existing car charges, according to an EU survey.

Of the Irish people surveyed, 28.6 per cent of drivers said that the reason they did not use public transport was because it was too expensive.

The questions were put to people in a survey requested by the Directorate General Mobility and Transport, and coordinated by the Directorate General for Communication.

The survey asked 25,570 participants aged 15 and older about the transport they use on a daily basis.

The report showed 21.1 per cent of Irish people said they would use public transport more frequently if it was possible to use a single ticket covering all possible transport modes.

The proportion of car users is high in Ireland at 68 per cent, while around 3 per cent of Irish people surveyed cycle to work.

Ireland was one of the countries where a significant amount of people said public transport lacked reliability, where almost half of car users said this had a “very important” role in their decision to drive (46 per cent-49 per cent).

In Spain, Ireland and Malta, over three-quarters of respondents  (78 per cent-79 per cent)  said they would be encouraged to combine different modes of transport if it would be possible to transfer easily from one method of transport to another.

A slim majority (53 per cent) of EU citizens said they used a car as their main mode of transport and about one in five (22 per cent) used public transport.  Walking is chosen by 13 per cent of EU citizens and 7 per cent cycle, but the least popular choice was a motorbike, mentioned by 2 per cent.

Men were more likely to say that they used a car to get around on a daily basis (59 per cent vs 47 per cent of women), while women walk more or use public transport (25 per cent vs 18 per cent).

Half of EU citizens said they would agree with existing car charges being replaced by new “pay-as-you-drive” schemes.

About two-thirds (68 per cent) of EU citizens said they would compromise on a car’s speed in order to reduce emissions, but the French were much less likely to be willing to buy a “clean” car if it was more expensive.

Men and the self-employed would be less likely to compromise on a car’s speed, price or range in order to be able to buy a “cleaner” car.

Read the full report here>