Half of all commuters leave Meath before 7am

Meath County Council launched a Commuter Survey at the beginning of September to get up to date figures on the habits of commuters in the county that could have a far-reaching and positive effect on the lives of Meath commuters. Meath Commuters can have their say and give their thoughts on their daily commute at www.meath.ie/commutersurvey.

Of the people who have completed the survey so far, almost half (48%) of the Meath commuters working outside the county, say they are hitting the roads before 7am most days. A further quarter leave before 7.30am daily.

Kevin Stewart, Deputy Chief Executive, Meath County Council said that “from the surveys received to date, 80% of commuters work in the greater Dublin area with an average journey time of over an hour (65 minutes).  Over 85% of Meath residents said they were happy where they lived and almost 90% were interested in working closer to home and flexible working hours. Local business, family and personal lives can be adversely affected with so many people taking long commutes to and from work every day.”

Kevin added that “we need to look at any and all ways to address the real commuter issues, but we must first investigate and understand the trends and from these results put forward meaningful solutions – hence the survey. We are looking for as many Meath Commuters to participate in this survey to give us their thoughts on their daily commute.”

Paula McCaul the CEO of County Meath Chamber said that “we are delighted to see this survey of commuters happening in the county at this time, as the Chamber are hosting the County Meath Careers Expo on 2nd October, in the Ardboyne Hotel in Navan.

The survey is timely as our Careers Expo is part of an initiative developed to “End the Commute and Live, Work & Grow in County Meath”. This is Meath's leading jobs and recruitment expo where over 40 key employers will be present and there will be 100’s of job opportunities on offer to enable people stop the commute and Work in County Meath. Industries at the Expo include:  Science & Engineering, IT, Manufacturing, Agriculture, Biopharma, Pharma, Polymers, Construction, Sales & Marketing, Accounting & Finance, Tourism & Hospitality, Retail, Logistics and Recruitment. The expo is open to all and free to register on www.countymeathchamber.ie. ”

Interactions Research Limited, on behalf of Meath County Council, are carrying out the survey which will run until the end of September. The survey is available online at www.meath.ie/commutersurvey . The survey results will provide the most recent snapshot of Meath commuter flows including mode of travel, journey length, commuter satisfaction, and attitudes to remote working. It will also provide the Economic Development team in Meath County Council and the State Agencies insights into the skills and educational levels of commuters that are currently leaving the county.

- What's your view? We'd love to hear from the county's commuters and the journeys they face each day. Please email us news@meathchronicle.ie or message us on social media pages