Just 11 per cent of secondary students in the Greater Dublin area cycle to school but 80 per cent would do so if proper lanes or paths were provided, according to a survey carried out for the Dublin Transportation Office.
The survey also showed that 25 per cent of pupils travel to school by car. Eight hundred parents of children in primary and secondary schools in all areas of Dublin were questioned in June by Lansdowne Market Research.
The survey results will be used by the DTO to carry out pilot surveys in specific areas and to develop "Safe Routes to School", to promote alternative means of getting to school, including the possibilities of increasing bus services.
The greatest concentration of car travellers is in Dun Laoghaire/ Rathdown where 40 per cent of pupils get to school by car, while in south Co Dublin just 10 per cent of students are driven to school. Many newer communities are in this area and are nearer to schools, the DTO said.
A majority of students - 54 per cent - still walk to school. Up to 90 per cent of those who walk live within a mile of the school and get there within 15 minutes.
The study also showed that 14 per cent of all schoolchildren use buses. Other findings included:
45 per cent of cars on school runs return straight home;
34 per cent of cars continued to a work destination after school runs;
25 per cent of parents who drive children to school would be willing to take part in "car pooling".
Commenting on the survey, the chief executive of the DTO, Mr John Henry, said that "42 per cent of parents of children who own bicycles are unhappy about using them for school runs, because the roads are too dangerous".
He said the survey highlighted the difficulties contributing to traffic congestion. "If parents had acceptable alternative options to transporting children to school by car, the problems would be alleviated."