Press Statement

Preasráiteas

07 October 2020

Go to release: Transport Bulletin 01 March 2020 to 03 October 2020

The CSO has today (07 October 2020) published its latest Transport Bulletin. The bulletin captures the impact of the COVID-19 restrictions on traffic volumes and the number of journeys taken on public transport. This bulletin is compiled using data collected by the Transport Infrastructure Ireland, the Road Safety Authority, the National Transport Authority, Dublin City Council and the Department of Transport.

The data shows that since the easing of COVID-19 restrictions, the volume of cars on Irish roads has been steadily increasing, though recent restrictions in Dublin have slowed this recovery somewhat. The volume of HGVs is now greater than it was for the same period last year in both Dublin and in the regional locations measured.

Commenting on this latest bulletin, Olive Loughnane, Statistician, said: ‘This bulletin is the first edition to be published since the move to Level Three restrictions in Dublin and Donegal. The COVID-19 restrictions had a significant influence on traffic volumes, the number of journeys on public transport and travel through Irish airports.

Car traffic volumes for the week ending 03 October were 19.2% lower than 2019 levels at regional locations and 26.4% lower in Dublin. HGV traffic volumes are unaffected by the increased restrictions in Dublin. They exceeded 2019 levels for the fifteenth consecutive week in selected Dublin locations’.

Further commenting on the Transport Bulletin, Olive Loughnane said: ‘The number of passenger journeys on public transport has dropped dramatically since the start of the COVID-19 crisis with journeys by rail most severely hit. Public transport volumes are recovering at a much slower rate than road traffic. Apart from bus journeys outside of Dublin, there has been a decline in the use of all public transport in the last two weeks of September compared to the first two weeks of the month. It is noteworthy that the volume of bicycles during off-peak hours was 6.9% higher in September 2020 compared to September 2019'. 

This bulletin will be updated on a regular basis to measure the ongoing impact of COVID-19 on transport. Future editions will be located in the CSO COVID-19 Information Hub.

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