With Dublin’s soaring rental prices, many residents choose to live in more remote regions to save on housing costs. But does the economy pay off?
According to a study by the Institute for Economic and Social Research in Ireland (ESRI), the long commute to work can have negative effects on pocket, well-being and the environment.
When choosing a place to live, it is necessary to consider not only the rental price, but also transportation costs. In Dublin, the price of tickets for trains and buses is proportional to the distance traveled, that is, the longer the route, the more expensive the fare. The Dublin Bus fare ranges from € 1.50 (for up to 3 stops) to € 2.60 (for more than 13 stops) using the Leap Card. At Luas, the ticket varies from € 2.10 (for 1 zone) to € 3.30 (for 8 zones). The difference seems small, but you can add more than € 50 in the monthly budget of those who work from Monday to Friday.
The price of the ticket to other cities in the metropolitan area – such as Ashbourne, Navan and Drogheda – can vary from € 10 to € 15 (roundtrip). If the only option is to use the car, the costs are even higher – fuel, toll, insurance, maintenance, parking, etc.
It is also necessary to consider the time spent traveling. Dublin has the fifth longest commute in Europe, behind Budapest, Paris, Amsterdam and London. The average time taken to reach the destination is almost 1 hour, according to Eurofound research, but some people can take up to two hours. To make matters worse, it is not always possible to make the journey productive, since crowded buses and trains are common, making it difficult to open a laptop or do the subject of college, for example.
The study also reveals that there is a direct relationship between increased rents and longer trips. For every 10% increase in rentals, the average national travel time grows by 0.6 minutes.
For experts, remote work can help improve housing and transportation conditions in the future. With the greater acceptance of the home office by companies and the change caused by the pandemic, workers can choose to live in more remote regions, without the need to commute to work daily. As we have already shown, more than 80% of Irish people prefer to continue working from home even after the end of the pandemic, at least some days of the week. Let’s hope the trend continues to grow!
