Key findings

• Traffic counter data from selected sites shows that the volume of cars for the week commencing 12 July was just 16.1% lower in regional locations and 20% lower in Dublin than the same week in 2019
• The volume of heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) measured for selected sites since 28 June is now greater than it was for the same period in 2019 in both Dublin and regional locations
• The impact of COVID restrictions on rail journeys was more significant than that on journeys by bus or Luas
• The pace of recovery of road traffic volumes for cars and HGVs to pre COVID-19 levels continues to outstrip that of public transport passenger numbers
• Number of vehicles licensed in first half of 2020 fell by more than 28,000 vehicles compared to the same period in 2019
• June was the third consecutive month when passenger numbers at all Irish airports were down by 97% or more, compared to last year

Road Traffic Volumes

Source: Transport Infrastructure Ireland

This analysis utilises traffic counter data from selected sites to examine the changes that have occurred in traffic volumes since 1 March. Vehicles are counted when they pass over loops embedded in the road surface. The traffic counters distinguish between different vehicle classes. This bulletin looks at data for cars and HGVs. As road traffic patterns are subject to seasonality, data for each week is compared with the corresponding week in 2019.

The data, which is illustrated in figures 1 and 2, shows that COVID-19 restrictions had a very similar impact on traffic volumes in Dublin and in regional locations. 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. See table 1 and figure 1.

As restrictions eased car traffic volumes increased, but they are not yet back up to 2019 levels. Data for the week 12 July – 18 July shows that car traffic volumes at regional sites were 16.1% lower than the same week in 2019. The corresponding difference for Dublin is 20.0%.

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 steadily. The volume of HGV traffic in Dublin has exceeded 2019 levels since 21 June. This milestone was reached one week later in the selected regional locations.

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 June 2020. In the first six months of this year, the number of new cars licensed was 28,455 lower than in the same period of 2019, a drop of 36.7%. However, the number of new cars licensed in June 2020 is up on May 2020, from 1,490 to 2,189. Typically, there is a decline in the number of cars licensed in June compared to May due to seasonal factors.

Road Fatalities

Source: Road Safety Authority

There were 73 road fatalities in the first six months of 2020. This compares with 70 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. This data shows that the combined number of journeys taken on these modes in the week commencing 12 April was over ten times lower than those taken in the first week of March. It is important to bear in mind that this week includes the Easter holiday.

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.

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 Irish airports in the first six months of 2020 is 66.1% lower than the same period last year.

The total number of passengers handled by all airports between April and June 2020 fell from 10,479,523 to 164,400, a drop of 98.4% when compared with the same period in 2019.  Knock airport was closed in quarter 2 and the total number of passengers travelling through Shannon and Kerry was less than 1,000 for the quarter.

For further COVID-19 related information go to the CSO COVID-19 Information Hub