Laois commuters invited to take part in survey for future planning

People in Laois have been invited to take part in a county-wide survey on their commuting experiences.

Laois County Council have launched a new commuter survey this Tuesday, February 3 in order to create an accurate picture of where people living in Laois are commuting to for work, how often they commute, and challenges they face.

The survey has been commissioned by Laois County Council with the aim of understanding the commuting patterns of Laois residents and to quantify the potential represented by the commuter population by analysing their skill sets as well as their desire to live and work in Laois. 

A similar survey was launched back in 2018, although there have been major changes to people's working patterns since then following the COVID-19 pandemic and the rise in working from home. 

According to figures from the last Census in 2022, the average Laois commuter travelled 32.3 minutes to get to work. The study also showed that over 6,221 people in Laois travelled more than hour to get to work.

The average distance Laois commuters travelled to work was also 25.3km, far greater than the national average of 16.8km.

It is estimated that over 13,000 people now commute from the county everyday. With such a large amount of people exiting the county each day, this new study wants to hear directly from commuters to identify long-term development plans. 

Laois County Council said that this survey will be utilised to "shape policies that make working closer to home a reality, reduce travel times and strengthen the local economy."

The survey takes around five minutes to complete and is fully anonymous. Questions will focus on where people commute to for work and how frequently, their current work status and commuting habits, their skills and qualifications as well as the industry they work in.

People will also be asked about their attitudes towards living and working in Laois, as well as their views on local or remote work opportunities. 

Within the survey, people are also asked whether they are satisfied with the cost of travelling to work, how they travel, their level of pay, job security and their work life balance. 

The survey also gages people's interest and knowledge about co-working hubs which offer a shared working space. 

There has been calls recently for more late trains in Laois, with politicians and commuters all looking for the last train service departing Heuston Station at 11:10pm to be extended to include Portarlington and Portlaoise Train Station.

Commuters are asked directly in this survey whether they think this train service should be extended to Portlaoise and how often they would use it. 

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The survey is being carried out by a leading market research firm, Interactions Research, and is available now for people to take part in. 

To take the survey, you can visit laois.ie/survey. 

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme