Press Statement

Preasráiteas

11 January 2021

Go to release: Transport Bulletin 01 March 2020 to 02 January 2021

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (11 January 2021) published its latest Transport Bulletin. The bulletin captures the impact of the latest 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 latest data shows that since the lifting of Level 5 COVID-19 restrictions in early December, the volume of cars on Irish roads rose in the early weeks of December. However, over the holiday period and following the return to Level 5 restrictions on 24 December, car traffic volumes have fallen once again. The volume of HGVs on Irish roads remains higher than it was for the same period last year in both Dublin and in the regional locations measured.

Commenting on this latest bulletin, Noreen Dorgan, Assistant Principal, said: “The COVID-19 restrictions continue to have a significant influence on traffic volumes, the number of journeys on public transport and travel through Irish airports, which all remain at significantly lower levels than the same period in 2019.

However, car traffic volumes had been increasing consistently since the week commencing 01 November and this gathered pace in the early weeks of December with the easing of restrictions. However, since the week beginning 20 December, car traffic volumes have once again started to decline and were 14.6% lower than the previous week at regional locations and 15.4% lower in Dublin. In the week beginning 27 December, car traffic volumes are 45.1% lower in regional locations and 45.5% lower in Dublin when compared with the same week last year. Obviously, this decline in road traffic volumes coincides with the holiday period and the return to Level 5 restrictions from 24 December. Sadly, there have been eight more fatalities on Irish roads in 2020 than in 2019.

HGV traffic volumes remain largely unaffected by the changes in restrictions. For the last two weeks of December 2020, HGV traffic volumes in regional locations were 12.2% higher in regional locations and 12.4% higher in Dublin locations when compared with the same period in 2019."

Further commenting on the Transport Bulletin, Noreen Dorgan 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 affected. Despite some recovery in the lead-up to Christmas, the holiday period and the return to Level 5 restrictions has seen public transport volumes fall back to just over one-fifth (21.7%) of volumes seen in early March. The volume of bicycles during off-peak hours was 3.0% higher in December 2020 compared to December 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.

-- ENDS --