Traffic on Irish roads below pre-Covid levels and public transport 'dramatically' down on 2019

The number of private cars on the roads outside of Dublin in mid-December was 8.5% lower than the same period the previous year. Picture: Larry Cummins

Traffic on Irish roads is still down on pre-Covid levels while bus and rail journeys are “dramatically” below the levels seen in 2019.

Passenger numbers at Cork Airport fell by half in 2021, also, as a two-month closure and restrictions on international travel for much of the year had an impact.

The number of bicycles on the roads in December 2021, meanwhile, was similar to levels seen in 2020 but 22% lower than in December 2019 according to the latest Transport Bulletin published on Monday by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

The number of private cars on the roads outside of Dublin in mid-December was 8.5% lower than the same period the previous year, while traffic volumes were 8.7% lower in the capital.

Looking across the year, the CSO said the number of cars on the road corresponded closely with the restrictions in place at the time.

At the beginning of 2021, the country was in the beginnings of a sustained period of Level 5 restrictions.

The traffic on the roads more than doubled from the first week of 2021 to the first week of December, however, these levels were still lower than the same period in 2019.

Public transport

The number of public transport also remains far below pre-Covid levels.

In the case of rail journeys in December 2021, these were just 55.4% of pre-Covid levels.

The number of bus journeys outside Dublin in the week commencing December 12 was 76.5% of pre-Covid levels.

Overall, the number of rail and bus journeys across the country that week was just over two-thirds (68%) of those taken in early March 2020.

CSO statistician Nele van der Wielen said: “The overall monthly volume of bicycles has also not returned to pre Covid-19 levels. However, it is important to distinguish between peak and off-peak volumes.

“The monthly volume of bicycles during peak hours in December 2021 was 50% lower than December 2019. On contrary, the monthly volume of bicycles during off-peak hours in December 2021 was 8% higher than December 2019.” 

Among the industries worst hit by the pandemic, aviation activity remained far below pre-Covid levels in 2021, albeit there was an improvement on 2020.

The number of passengers travelling through the main airports in December 2021 was four times that of December 2020, but was 48.9% lower than the same month in 2019.

Cork Airport

The closure of Cork Airport for over two months from September played a factor as it handled 255,103 passengers in 2021. This compared to 527,014 in 2020, and over 2.5m in 2019.

Meanwhile, the number of new private cars licenced for the first time in Ireland increased by 20.8% in 2021 compared to 2020 but the number of used imported cars licenced fell by 13.4%.

Also within the stats are approximate sales figures for petrol and diesel, with clearances for auto diesel up 17.9% in November 2021 than in November 2020 and clearances for petrol up 39.7% in the same period.

Furthermore, the traffic of heavy goods vehicles exceeded 2019 levels for most of the second half of 2021. However, data from December showed that 2021 HGV traffic volumes were below 2020 and 2019 levels.

The CSO’s bulletin also highlights data from the Road Safety Authority, which highlighted 134 fatalities on Irish roads in 2021, a decrease of 9.2% on 2020. Eighteen people died on Irish roads in the whole of December.

August was the month with the highest number of road deaths with 22, with the highest in a single month across the last three years.

The CSO said the bulletin would be updated on a regular basis to gauge the impact of Covid-19 on the transport sector.

It said the statistics were collated using data from 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.