Every November Dublin City Council (DCC) conducts traffic counts at 33 locations on entry points into the city centre around a 'cordon' formed by the Royal and Grand Canals. As the name suggests, the cordon has been chosen to ensure (as far as possible) that any person entering the City Centre from outside must pass through one of the 33 locations where the surveys are undertaken. In addition, every May there is a wider traffic count survey carried out at approximately 60 locations where in addition to the canal cordon locations, further counts are carried out at bridges along the River Liffey and points such as Parnell Street and St. Stephens Green.

These traffic counts provide a reliable measurement of the modal distribution of persons travelling into, and out of, Dublin City on a year on year comparable basis. The data collected is divided into the various transport modes allowing us to better understand the changing usage trends in cycling, pedestrian and various vehicle types.

Resources include a map with the 33 locations on the Cordon where data is annually collected. All 33 cordon points are on routes for general traffic into the City Centre, while 22 of the cordon points are on bus routes into the City. The numbers of people using Bus, Luas, DART and suburban rail services to enter the City Centre are collated from each of the various service providers and an Annual Monitoring Report is prepared by the National Transport Authority.