The car is king for local commuters

The extent of local workers' reliance on the motor car to bring them to and from work is revealed in the latest batch of statistics from last year's census. The figures, which were released by the CSO today (Thursday), showed that three quarters of all workers in Westmeath (22,150 people, or 76% of the total) drive or are driven by car to their place of employment. In Roscommon, this proportion is even greater, with 16,833 people (79% of all commuters) travelling by car to their workplace at the time the census was taken in April 2011. The two legs are quite a bit behind the four wheels in popularity among commuters, but walking is nevertheless the second most common option in Westmeath and is undertaken by 2,746 workers (8.5% of the county's total). In Roscommon, 1,229 people (5% of the total) walk to work. In Dublin, over 21% of workers rely on public transport to get to their job, but this is much less prevalent outside the capital and is utilised by just 3% of Westmeath workers and a mere 1% of the workforce in Roscommon according to the census. The census data reveals a number of other interesting nuggets of information. It found that the journey to work takes an hour or more for over one in ten (13%) commuters in Westmeath and for almost 9% of Roscommon workers. Journey times are not a concern for the 1,789 people in Westmeath (5.5% of the county's workforce) who work mainly from home. In Roscommon, just under 7% of people work from home. * For more from the latest census results, see next Wednesday's edition of the Westmeath Independent