You’re not imagining it — traffic is getting worse
Prior On That Traffic Data Cork's Cummins 56% City Worse Hour South To Is The Than Larry Shows Traffic Cork Road Rush Pandemic Tomtom Pic: Ring The Year
Drivers in Cork are not imagining things — traffic jams are almost back to the mind-bendingly frustrating levels that they were before Covid-19.
Strong anecdotal evidence has suggested that gridlock is becoming more and more frequent in and out of the city’s arteries — and official data is now backing this up.
Hopes that the Covid pandemic would be a watershed moment for getting more people out of their cars and into public transport, walking, and cycling seem to have been misguided, official data and real-time analysis show.
According to real-time data from GPS firm TomTom for last week, congestion around Cork was higher than 2019 levels.
Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday were busier than the same days in 2019 for both mornings and evening, but Tuesday was the worst day. Friday evening was only slightly better than the same day before the pandemic years.
Tuesday congestion levels at 8am were up 58% compared to last year, and 17% compared to 2019, while in the evening rush hour, it was 80% higher than last year, and 56% higher than the year before the pandemic.
In 2021, Cork was ranked 87th in the world for congestion. TomTom calculated the congestion level at 29%, a three percentage point increase from the year before that.
“A 29% congestion level means that on average, travel times were 29% longer than during the baseline non-congested conditions," TomTom said.
Tuesday mornings are consistently the worst time to get caught in traffic in Cork, but Friday evenings between 3pm and 4pm is the absolute peak nightmare for those in their cars.
The data reveals that 109 hours, or four days and 13 hours, are lost by people sitting in their cars in traffic rush hours.
Dublin was the 35th worst for traffic in the world last year, while Limerick was 105th.
According to Central Statistics Office (CSO) data earlier this month, car traffic count data remained below 2019 figures, but only slightly.
A number of roadworks have been going on around Cork City and its environs in recent months, stretching out to commuter towns in the county, while minor flooding during the week also contributed to delays.