Irish Transport Fares Among World’s Highest

Public transport fares in Ireland are amongst the most expensive in the world, as new analysis shows that Dublin commuters are paying on average over 5% of their income on monthly tickets.

A study of 45 cities worldwide by e-commerce platform Picodi.com found that a monthly public transport pass in Dublin is one of the most expensive in the world.

At €155, a monthly pass in Dublin is the second most expensive in the rankings, more expensive than New York (€119), and only surpassed by the monthly fare in London (€253).

The analysis compared monthly pass prices with the average monthly wages and found that in Dublin a monthly public transport pass costs 5.2% of the average net wage.

Only in four other cities do commuters pay out a larger percentage of their pay for public transport: Kyiv (7%), London (7.4%), Istanbul (7.5%) and São Paulo (14.3%).

The analysis found that monthly passes in other Irish cities are much lower, as Cork commuters pay €68 per month, those in Limerick and Galway pay €60, while Waterford has the lowest monthly rate in the country at €54.

In terms of single tickets, a Dublin fare of €2 is somewhere in the middle of the worldwide rankings, the 30th most expensive of 45 cities analysed. The most expensive single tickets for public transport can be found in London (€4.85), Zurich (€4.44) and Oslo (€3.65).

In three out of the 45 cities analysed, public transport is completely free for citizens – Luxembourg; the capital of Estonia, Tallinn; and the capital of Malta, Valletta.

The study is based on fares offered by public transport operators in March 2023, with monthly passes that allow for unlimited travel with all means of transportation within the city.