09 February 2021
Go to release: Transport Bulletin 01 March 2020 to 30 January 2021
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (09 February 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 volume of cars on Irish roads has been increasing slowly throughout January, across Dublin and regional locations, but overall volumes remain low following the introduction of Level 5 restrictions. The volume of HGVs on the roads in January is lower in both Dublin and regional locations than the same period last year.
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 and early 2020.
In the week beginning 24 January, car traffic volumes were 55.2% lower in regional locations and 53.0% lower in Dublin when compared with the same week last year. Sadly, there were six fatalities on Irish roads in January 2021.
HGV traffic volumes throughout January remained lower than the same month last year, despite being on a par or higher throughout much of 2020. . For the latest week available 24 January, HGV traffic volumes in regional locations were 6.9% lower in regional locations and 15.9% lower in Dublin locations when compared with the same period in 2020."
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 27.0% lower in January 2021 compared to January 2020."
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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