Volume of cars on Irish roads almost back to pre-pandemic levels

Early morning traffic on the South Link Road in Cork. Traffic levels are almost back to pre-pandemic levels, the CSO said.Picture: Denis Minihane.

The volume of cars is returning to pre-pandemic levels, while the amount of lorries on roads are now exceeding the same period last year, according to Central Statistics Office (CSO) data.

A transport bulletin from the statistics body measuring the beginning of March until August 8 found that journeys by rail and bus were 57% were lower than before Covid-19.

At the same time, the volume of cars was just 12.6% lower in the regions, and 16.3% lower in Dublin, than the same week in 2019.

The volume of heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) measured at selected sites in Dublin since June 21 exceeds those measured for the same period in 2019, it said.

The decrease in HGV traffic due to Covid-19 restrictions overall was not as pronounced as for cars, according to the CSO. 

In the first three weeks of March, leading up to the most severe restrictions, HGV traffic volumes in Dublin and in regional locations were higher than in 2019, although HGV traffic volume was decreasing in those weeks. 

CSO statistician Olive Loughnane said: "The Covid-19 restrictions had a significant influence on traffic volumes, the number of journeys on public transport, and travel through Irish airports.

"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."

The combined number of journeys taken on rail and bus in the week beginning April 12 was more than 10 times lower than those taken in the first week of March.

The data indicates that rail was the mode of transport that was most severely hit since the onset of the crisis, the CSO said.

In the week beginning April 5, the number of journeys undertaken was 97% lower than it was in the first week of March of this year. 

Rail data includes passenger journeys on intercity and DART services.

Data from Irish airports shows that air transport continues to be heavily impacted by restrictions, Ms Loughnane said.

The number of passengers travelling through Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports in the first seven months of 2020 is more than 70% lower than the same period last year.

The total number of passengers handled by those airports in July 2020 fell from more than 3.93m to 416,436, a drop of ver 89% when compared with the same period in 2019, the CSO said.

Car sales have also been dramatically affected, exacerbating an already falling number of new cars sold in recent years due to the drop in sterling and the importing of UK cars.

The number of vehicles licensed in first seven months of 2020 fell by more than 31,000 vehicles compared to the same period in 2019, the CSO said.

That constitutes a drop of just over 33%, the body added.

Despite traffic levels dropping in the first seven months of 2020, the number of road deaths increased this year.

There were 84 road fatalities in the first seven months of 2020. This compares with 78 for the same period last year, the CSO said.

It said its bulletin will now be updated regularly to measure the ongoing pandemic impact.