Press Statement

Preasráiteas

06 November 2020

Go to release: Transport Bulletin 01 March 2020 to 31 October 2020

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (06 November 2020) published its latest Transport Bulletin. The bulletin captures the impact of 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, the Office of the Revenue Commissioners and the Department of Transport.

The data shows that since the introduction of Level Five COVID-19 restrictions, the volume of cars on Irish roads, which had been steadily increasing, has fallen again. The volume of HGVs, however, 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 Five restrictions in Ireland. The COVID-19 restrictions have 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 31 October were 25.5% lower than the previous week at regional locations and 22.3% lower in Dublin. HGV traffic volumes are unaffected by the increased restrictions in Dublin. They exceeded 2019 levels for the nineteenth 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 have fallen by 36.8% in week ending 25 October compared with the previous week. There has been a decline in the use of all public transport in the last week of October with rail falling by 47.2%. However, the volume of bicycles during off-peak hours was 0.9% higher in October 2020 compared to October 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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