CYCLING TO WORK or school in Ireland’s main cities has seen a significant increase between 2006 and 2011, according to data from Census 2011.

The highest recorded numbers taking to two wheels was seen in Cork city with a dramatic 33 per cent increase. The greater Dublin area saw an increase of 29 per cent, while cycling has risen by 5 per cent in Galway city. However, biking it to work or school has fallen in both Limerick and Waterford cities. Overall, bicycle commuters have risen by 15 per cent nationally

With more and more of us using our bikes to get from A to B it’s not just benefiting our health but the economy too. In 2011, the Irish Bicycle Business Association published a report on the Cycle to Work Scheme – the first of its kind since the introduction of the bike to work programme, which showed that around 90,000 bikes were supplied between 2009 and 2011 generating €139 million in economic activity.

Jimmy Stagg, Chair of the IBBA says:

This rise shows that the Government’s support for cycling as a means of transport is working. The Department of Transport’s 2009 National Transport Policy Framework has an ambitious target to get 10 per cent of commuters cycling by 2020. The 2011 Census shows that with the right support people will switch to cycling.