Abstract

Book chapter Today many rural dwellers in the Republic of Ireland depend on the private car to access services, employment, education, healthcare and recreation and thus shoulder a disproportionate share of the burden of insufficient public transport. But car dependency does not only affect rural Ireland: those who live in Irish cities, towns and their sub-urbanised hinterlands also experience accessibility problems and reduced 'walkability' resulting from sprawl and a lack of transport alternatives. Recent census figures illustrate the geographical and demographic expansion of urban centres such as Dublin, Cork and Galway which are now extending well into their (semi-) rural hinterlands where public transport is often unavailable. Car dependency thus represents a key challenge for national transport policy in general, and rural public transport provision in particular. Not peer reviewed