Key findings
Road Traffic Volumes
Source: Transport Infrastructure Ireland
This is the first edition of the bulletin since the restrictions announced by the Government on 18 August. These restrictions included a request to citizens to avoid public transport if practicable and a request to businesses to facilitate working from home where possible.
The data, which is illustrated in figures 1 and 2, shows the impact of COVID-19 on traffic volumes since the beginning of March. In the weeks when restrictions were most stringent (from 29 March to 2 May) the volume of cars on the roads was more than 70% lower than in 2019. The data indicates that COVID-19 restrictions had a very similar impact on traffic volumes in Dublin and in regional locations. See table 1 and figure 1.
The latest car traffic data available, for the weeks beginning 9 and 16 August, indicates that the gradual recovery in traffic volumes seen consistently since mid-April has dropped back slightly. This coincides with the restrictions announced by the Government in Kildare, Laois and Offaly on 7 August and more widely on 18 August. These included restrictions on travel within these counties, a request to citizens to avoid public transport if practicable and a request to businesses to facilitate working from home where possible. The volume of private cars for the week commencing 16 August was 22.7% lower in Dublin and 19.8% lower in regional locations than has the corresponding week in 2019.
Table 2 and figures 3 and 4 provide an insight into HGV traffic volumes. The decrease in HGV traffic due to COVID-19 restrictions was not as pronounced as for cars. In the first three weeks of March, leading up to the severest restrictions, HGV traffic volumes in Dublin and in regional locations were higher than in 2019, although HGV traffic volume was decreasing in those weeks. Over the course of April and May, Dublin saw a greater decrease in HGV traffic than the selected regional locations. The year-on-year comparisons of HGV volumes for the weeks commencing 12 and 19 April 2020 are both affected by the timing of Easter (21 April 2019 and 12 April 2020).
Since 17 May HGV traffic has been climbing. HGV traffic volumes in 2020 have exceeded 2019 volumes since June. However, the rate of growth has slowed over the last four weeks in regional locations and the last three weeks in Dublin. Overall, HGV traffic in regional locations between 21 June to 22 August 2020 is up by 1.5% when compared with the same period in 2019.
X-axis label | 2019 | 2020 |
---|---|---|
01-Mar | 566875 | 564047 |
08-Mar | 571127 | 508750 |
15-Mar | 529787 | 333658 |
22-Mar | 582231 | 274879 |
29-Mar | 586954 | 142579 |
05-Apr | 583726 | 137812 |
12-Apr | 587824 | 131479 |
19-Apr | 543564 | 155289 |
26-Apr | 580888 | 159124 |
03-May | 560744 | 166742 |
10-May | 593643 | 197908 |
17-May | 596373 | 256576 |
24-May | 602191 | 285690 |
31-May | 566180 | 284275 |
07-Jun | 591983 | 356707 |
14-Jun | 598739 | 393315 |
21-Jun | 595749 | 414166 |
28-Jun | 596223 | 441264 |
05-Jul | 588187 | 458565 |
12-Jul | 587682 | 469970 |
19-Jul | 584826 | 475946 |
26-Jul | 589395 | 478502 |
02-Aug | 558483 | 466785 |
09-Aug | 586713 | 464072 |
16-Aug | 592552 | 458005 |
X-axis label | 2019 | 2020 |
---|---|---|
01-Mar | 183536 | 190841 |
08-Mar | 186325 | 169578 |
15-Mar | 177464 | 104224 |
22-Mar | 191581 | 89044 |
29-Mar | 193650 | 47120 |
05-Apr | 193150 | 45754 |
12-Apr | 193163 | 42924 |
19-Apr | 188486 | 50543 |
26-Apr | 192917 | 52611 |
03-May | 190129 | 53634 |
10-May | 195994 | 64763 |
17-May | 196849 | 84340 |
24-May | 201604 | 92978 |
31-May | 190693 | 92538 |
07-Jun | 194947 | 115419 |
14-Jun | 198237 | 126622 |
21-Jun | 194043 | 134399 |
28-Jun | 196666 | 151991 |
05-Jul | 198875 | 160634 |
12-Jul | 197912 | 165950 |
19-Jul | 195551 | 170096 |
26-Jul | 206284 | 174155 |
02-Aug | 195066 | 170392 |
09-Aug | 202747 | 169402 |
16-Aug | 205022 | 164493 |
X-axis label | 2019 | 2020 |
---|---|---|
01-Mar | 42862 | 46280 |
08-Mar | 42689 | 47238 |
15-Mar | 37074 | 40529 |
22-Mar | 43612 | 44610 |
29-Mar | 43330 | 28171 |
05-Apr | 42995 | 26082 |
12-Apr | 42847 | 23169 |
19-Apr | 33329 | 27371 |
26-Apr | 42185 | 28749 |
03-May | 36808 | 26011 |
10-May | 42634 | 30078 |
17-May | 42999 | 38816 |
24-May | 42563 | 41786 |
31-May | 37885 | 37984 |
07-Jun | 44239 | 43693 |
14-Jun | 43985 | 43908 |
21-Jun | 43811 | 43935 |
28-Jun | 43420 | 45046 |
05-Jul | 42809 | 44793 |
12-Jul | 42552 | 44045 |
19-Jul | 41820 | 44327 |
26-Jul | 41100 | 43546 |
02-Aug | 36900 | 38057 |
09-Aug | 42779 | 43806 |
16-Aug | 42785 | 43223 |
X-axis label | 2019 | 2020 |
---|---|---|
01-Mar | 15249 | 15620 |
08-Mar | 15244 | 15932 |
15-Mar | 13438 | 13952 |
22-Mar | 16015 | 15219 |
29-Mar | 15813 | 11225 |
05-Apr | 15828 | 10787 |
12-Apr | 15581 | 9405 |
19-Apr | 12789 | 11166 |
26-Apr | 15596 | 11470 |
03-May | 13854 | 10386 |
10-May | 15891 | 12054 |
17-May | 15589 | 13604 |
24-May | 15682 | 14221 |
31-May | 13935 | 12980 |
07-Jun | 15946 | 15144 |
14-Jun | 15814 | 15313 |
21-Jun | 14944 | 15366 |
28-Jun | 15371 | 15469 |
05-Jul | 15566 | 15749 |
12-Jul | 15441 | 15912 |
19-Jul | 15243 | 15924 |
26-Jul | 15365 | 15417 |
02-Aug | 13422 | 13392 |
09-Aug | 15232 | 15502 |
16-Aug | 15198 | 15128 |
Vehicles Licensed
Source: Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport
The impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the number of vehicles licensed continued to be felt in the month of July 2020. In the first seven months of this year, the number of new cars licensed was 31,867 lower than in the same period of 2019, a drop of 33.1%. See Vehicles licensed for the first time July 2020.
2019 | 2020 | |
January | 22279 | 20665 |
February | 14178 | 13263 |
March | 14404 | 10239 |
April | 13794 | 1338 |
May | 9126 | 1490 |
June | 3858 | 2189 |
July | 18741 | 15329 |
Road Fatalities
Source: Road Safety Authority
There were 84 road fatalities in the first seven months of 2020. This compares with 78 for the same period last year.
Public Transport Volumes
Source: National Transport Authority
The number of passenger journeys on public transport has dropped dramatically since the start of the COVID-19 crisis. Data relating to bus and rail journeys is presented in table 5 and figure 6.
The number of journeys on public transport dropped following the announcement of further Government restrictions on 18 August. The number of bus and rail journeys taken during the week commencing 16 August was 58.4% lower than the week commencing 01 March. It is important to bear in mind that the Government announcement would only have impacted 3 days of that week.
The data indicates that rail was the mode of transport that was most severely hit since the onset of the crisis. In the week commencing 05 April the number of journeys undertaken was 97.2% lower than it was in the first week of March of this year. Rail data includes passenger journeys on Intercity and DART services.
Data on Luas journeys taken is presented in table 6 and illustrated in figure 7. The data indicates that the impact of COVID-19 on the Luas red and green lines, while very similar, has been slightly greater on the green line.
It is worth noting that the number of journeys taken on public transport is not recovering at the same rate as road traffic volumes. Rail continues to be the most severely affected mode of public transport.
X-axis label | Dublin Metro Bus | Bus excluding Dublin | Rail |
---|---|---|---|
01-Mar | 3118388 | 759099 | 856295 |
08-Mar | 2558064 | 608072 | 912353 |
15-Mar | 889683 | 202304 | 658934 |
22-Mar | 626201 | 149976 | 97413 |
29-Mar | 362551 | 85405 | 26427 |
05-Apr | 378705 | 92237 | 24019 |
12-Apr | 354552 | 84256 | 26808 |
19-Apr | 408715 | 100255 | 32728 |
26-Apr | 426395 | 105799 | 35270 |
03-May | 451547 | 109066 | 37642 |
10-May | 496898 | 122049 | 43357 |
17-May | 613764 | 146462 | 65923 |
24-May | 728080 | 169158 | 95072 |
31-May | 726144 | 170657 | 103530 |
07-Jun | 861573 | 216191 | 130802 |
14-Jun | 1001001 | 248013 | 170729 |
21-Jun | 1052931 | 258414 | 200664 |
28-Jun | 1191210 | 300688 | 244513 |
05-Jul | 1289296 | 336563 | 261970 |
12-Jul | 1313755 | 343314 | 275425 |
19-Jul | 1345114 | 359881 | 289544 |
26-Jul | 1386355 | 367623 | 303230 |
02-Aug | 1343514 | 355563 | 322643 |
09-Aug | 1411090 | 385570 | 303273 |
16-Aug | 1362586 | 349380 | 255723 |
X-axis label | 2019 | 2020 |
---|---|---|
02-Mar | 941919 | 914613 |
09-Mar | 924998 | 684508 |
16-Mar | 868205 | 172062 |
23-Mar | 1003871 | 109378 |
30-Mar | 933575 | 51655 |
06-Apr | 945662 | 51695 |
13-Apr | 842186 | 49393 |
20-Apr | 801296 | 55246 |
27-Apr | 919255 | 53321 |
04-May | 817933 | 62327 |
11-May | 904983 | 70288 |
18-May | 902415 | 97318 |
25-May | 973025 | 121645 |
01-Jun | 826269 | 116454 |
08-Jun | 925516 | 162187 |
15-Jun | 883208 | 198036 |
22-Jun | 905636 | 212109 |
29-Jun | 982288 | 260302 |
06-Jul | 919158 | 272181 |
13-Jul | 903958 | 281255 |
20-Jul | 926491 | 299837 |
27-Jul | 832452 | 329980 |
03-Aug | 807393 | 324687 |
10-Aug | 868677 | 327981 |
17-Aug | 862939 | 332762 |
Aviation data
Source: Dublin, Cork, Shannon, Knock and Kerry airports.
Air passenger data shows a dramatic fall in passengers handled by Irish airports due to COVID-19 restrictions. Data on airport passengers is presented in table 7 and illustrated in figure 8. The number of passengers travelling through Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports in the first seven months of 2020 is 70.3% lower than the same period last year.
The total number of passengers handled by those airports in July 2020 fell from 3,911,133 to 416,436, a drop of 89.4% when compared with the same period in 2019. Data for Knock and Kerry airports was not yet available at the time of publication.
Dublin | Cork | Shannon | Knock | Kerry | |
Percentage change | -65.7 | -66.3 | -70.7 | -70.4 | -66.9 |
For further COVID-19 related information go to the CSO COVID-19 Information Hub