New research from the Northern Ireland Audit Office has revealed that commuters are still more likely to use cars to travel to and from work now than they were ten years ago.

The stagnation has been recorded despite a total investment of £1.1 billion in public transport between 2002 and 2014. During the period, rail journeys doubled, but bus journeys only rose by 1.5 per cent.

A possible reason for this is the 20 per cent reduction in rush hour bus speeds recorded in Belfast, which is believed to be due to vehicles spending longer picking up and dropping off passengers. Train journeys are also slow. However, the cost of bus and rail travel remains relatively low compared to the rest of the UK.
It had been hoped that Belfast’s Rapid Transit System would be operational by 2012, but it was delayed until 2017 due to financial pressures.