Despite fears that the prospect of free travel within the country would lead to widespread chaos on the bus and rail network, there were no stampedes of passengers looking to travel during "No Fares Day".
Public opinion towards the workers was generally positive with people welcoming the fact that while this was a day of action by union members, there was no disruption to services.
Iarnród Éireann reported a 25 to 30 per cent increase in travellers on several western rail routes yesterday during the day of industrial action, writes Lorna Siggins.
"It was nothing we couldn't cope with", said Mr Myles McHugh, Iarnród Éireann's business development manager in Galway. Trains to Dublin carried 10 per cent more passengers than normal from Galway and ticket- holders in both Galway and Westport, Co Mayo, were given first access to carriages.
A number of families took trains from Athlone, Co Westmeath, and Ballinasloe, Co Galway, to Galway city - rather than to Dublin. Bus Éireann noticed an increase in the number of people on buses to Cork.
Commuters in Cork appeared to heed the warning of bus and rail managers to embark on necessary travel only, writes Louise Geaney. Take-up of the free fares offer was slow in Cork with early morning train services to the capital from Kent station down 10 per cent.
The only significant increase was on local suburban services, said to be up approximately 28 per cent.
"This was unchartered waters for us and we didn't know how the public was going to react. But it seems as though they heeded our warnings and additional passengers just didn't turn up," said business development manager for Iarnród Éireann in Cork, Mr Andrew Roche.
Passenger numbers from Sligo to Dublin were up by around 50 per cent as people took advantage of the free fares day, writes Chris Ashmore. Bus Éireann reported it was a busy day in the region, but not much different than any other Friday.
Numbers travelling by bus were also up in Donegal - which has no train link - but not enough to cause capacity problems.
At Sligo bus station, two inspectors were on duty rather than one and passengers were instructed that those with tickets would have first preference.
"It has been pretty much the same as normal. Our biggest problem was explaining what was happening to people, especially foreigners who may not have been aware of what was going on," said area manager Mr Brendan O'Loughlin.
Passenger numbers were reported as normal in Kerry, writes Anne Lucey. The manager of Killarney railway station, Mr Michael Leahy, was out early yesterday preparing to arrange travellers into neat queues and erecting barriers in preparation for a "No Fares Day" rush. However, only a few extra passengers took early morning trains out of the Kingdom, with only small queues developing.
Limerick's Colbert Station saw a flurry of early morning activity when hundreds of intending passengers began flooding in as early as 6.15 a.m. - some 30 minutes before the first train was due to leave, writes Karl Hanlon. All inter-city trains departing from Colbert Station in Limerick yesterday were busier than normal but only the early morning services were full to capacity.
The south-east saw no major increase in the numbers travelling during the morning rush hour, writes Carol Duffy. Although the figures increased by evening, management put much of it down to normal Friday traffic.