According to the yearly report by Transport Infrastructure Ireland, travel on the nation’s highway system returned to the normalcy seen before the pandemic in 2023, signposting M50 as the country’s most frequently used motorway. However, there was a disparity between the rising population in Dublin’s region and the increase in vehicular counts, indicating a shift in behaviour which TII’s Communication Director, Seán O’Neill, ascribes to the Covid influence.
From the older reports, there was a direct correlation between growing population in the area and the volume of traffic on the route, O’Neill notes, however, this is not prominent now, inferring the rise in remote work and public transport use since the pandemic onset.
Presenting a thorough review of the country’s approximately 5,300 km worth of motorway, national primary and national secondary routes, the report discovered a 4% increase in network use last year, accompanied by a 1% fall in the distance travelled by heavy goods vehicles (HGV).
This shows a return to standard levels of growth before the pandemic disrupted progression. In 2019, the usage of private vehicles rose by 3% before plummeting 28% in 2020 due to Covid restrictions. It subsequently rose by 15% and 17% as restrictions eased and the economy rebounded in 2021 and 2022.
The dip in HGV traffic was only 4% in 2020, therefore the climb in post-pandemic numbers was far less notable prior to last year’s drop. Emission totals from all vehicles are 2% lower than in 2018.
The M50 continues to be the most congested route in the network. Throughout the year, approximately 1.6 billion kilometres (an increase by 3%) were logged along it, with a daily average of over 150,000 vehicles. The peak travel day in 2023 was on June 29th when 184,978 vehicles were recorded passing through the N2 and N3 exits.
The M1 stretch heading towards the airport exit was the second busiest segment of road, recording 158,664 vehicles on the 19th of May. It was followed by the N7 to Newlands, N4 to Liffey Valley, and N40 in Cork, each with a single-day maximum exceeding 100,000 vehicles. The Cork route had an everyday average surpassing 80,000.
320 fatal or seriously harmful collisions occurred on the national roads in the previous year, representing a 3 per cent increase from the year prior and a 9 per cent rise compared to the average of the years immediately before the pandemic.
21 per cent of these accidents, in each case, involved a solo vehicle or a “non-motorised road user”.
Of all collisions, 58 led to 60 deaths, accounting for just below one-third of the total road fatalities in Ireland last year. Among the deceased, 14 were cyclists or pedestrians.