A new survey has found the vast majority of employees in Ennis will continue to reply on the car for transport for years to come.
An Ennis Chamber survey of over 500 staff from businesses in the town found more than 61% live more than 3 kilometres from their workplace.
The ‘Distance to Workplace Survey’ was carried out by Ennis Chamber to provide factual data to the local authority for inclusion in the Area Based Transport Assessment, which is currently being undertaken.
The assessment will be used to influence decisions around the provision of town bus requirements and preferred routes, town parking and other key infrastructure transport related decisions.
The findings of the survey include that 38.5% of Ennis employees live within one kilometre of their workplace, with 16.5% living between 3 and 5 kilometres away.
23% of Ennis employees live between 5 and 10 kilometres away, while 22% live more than 10 kilometres away from the town.
Of the 500 town centre employees surveyed, only 28 have access to private car parking, representing only 5.5% of respondents.
Ennis Chamber says while there continues to be a deficit in public transport infrastructure, there will be a continued reliance on cars as a key mode of transport and parking being available.
It says the town needs an Ennis 2040 plan to shape it’s future and to leverage investment balanced with frequent public transport, safe cycle and pedestrian access and a permanent parking fix.
