Press Statement

Preasráiteas

17 August 2020

Go to release: Transport Bulletin 01 March 2020 to 08 August 2020

The CSO has today (17 August 2020) published its latest transport bulletin. The bulletin captures the impact of the 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 and the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport.

The data shows that since the easing of COVID-19 restrictions, the volume of cars is returning to pre-pandemic levels. The volume of HGVs is now greater than it was for the same period last year in both Dublin and in the regional locations measured, except for a slight decrease (-0.2%) in regional locations in the week beginning 02 August.

Commenting on this latest bulletin, Olive Loughnane, Statistician, said: ‘This bulletin analyses traffic counter data from selected sites to examine the changes that have occurred in traffic volumes since 1 March. The COVID-19 restrictions had a significant influence on traffic volumes, the number of journeys on public transport and travel through Irish airports.

As restrictions ease, car traffic volumes for the week ending 08 August were just 12.6% lower than 2019 levels at regional locations and 16.3% lower in Dublin. HGV traffic volumes are exceeding 2019 levels for the seventh consecutive week in selected regional locations. The volume of HGVs measured at selected sites in Dublin from 21 June 2020 to 8 August 2020 exceeds that measured for the same period in 2019 by 3.9%.'

Further commenting on the Transport Bulletin, Olive Loughnane 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 hit. Public transport volumes are recovering at a much slower rate than road traffic. Data from Irish airports shows that air transport continues to be heavily impacted by restrictions.’

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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