Car traffic volumes increase slightly during February

New figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show how ongoing Covid-19 restrictions continue to impact various modes of transport across Ireland. Picture: Leon Farrell / RollingNews.ie

Traffic volumes around the country increased last month but were still much lower than levels seen during the same month in 2020 and 2019.

New figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show how ongoing Covid-19 restrictions continue to impact various modes of transport across Ireland.

The CSO’s Transport Bulletin shows that car traffic volumes in regional locations increased by 6.9% in the week beginning February 14, when compared with the previous week.

For the week beginning February 21, car traffic volumes were 3.9% higher again, and 4.7% higher in Dublin.

However, overall February traffic levels remain much lower than in previous years.

Regional locations saw a 48.7% decrease in car traffic compared to February 2020.

In Dublin, last month’s levels were 46.1% lower than the same period last year.

Road fatalities 

Overall traffic decreases are also reflected in the number of road fatalities recorded so far this year.

According to the CSO and the National Transport Authority, there were 11 fatalities on Irish roads in January and February compared to 28 in the same period of last year — a 60.7% decrease 

Heavy Goods Vehicles

There’s also been a marked decrease in the number of heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) on Irish roads.

During the week beginning February 21, there were 11% fewer HGVs in Dublin and 2.8% fewer in regional locations compared to February 2020.

Public Transport 

Public transport continues to be significantly impacted by Covid-19 restrictions.

Despite some slight recovery during the run up to Christmas, public transport volumes are at just 25.2% of the volumes seen in March of last year, with rail services the mode most severely affected.

The number of people cycling in Dublin City during off-peak hours was also 12% lower last month compared to February 2020.

Air Travel 

Unsurprisingly, air travel levels have dramatically decreased over the past year.

The number of passengers travelling through Dublin, Cork, Shannon and Knock airports in January of this year was 91.3% lower than in the same month last year.

Last January, 2,366,805 people travelled through those airports. 

This year, that figure was just 205,803.