The Dutch are making more use of their cars and public transport since the government ended the 'hard lockdown' at the beginning of this month. On the road and on the trains, buses, metros and trams, it was about as busy last week as in the autumn, before the country was closed again as the corona infections rose. This is apparent from figures from the National Road Traffic Data Portal (NDW) and the public transport chip card company Translink.
A researcher from the NDW speaks of a "slightly increasing trend" when he looks at the traffic on the road. That's partly because people get in the car more often in the spring and summer anyway. If this is taken into account, the fact remains that it will become busier.
Compared to the period before the corona crisis, it is still quiet on the Dutch roads. Last week it was 16 percent quieter on working days than in a comparable week in 2019 and 12 percent on weekends. But it is not nearly as quiet on the road as in the middle of the first lockdown. Then the traffic volume was regularly halved.
Normal timetable
Public transport has clearly become busier since the third week of May. Then the government advice was dropped to only take the train, bus, tram or metro for essential journeys. Last week, travelers checked in almost 14 million times with their public transport chip card, according to figures from Translink. At the beginning of this year, public transport was used barely 9 million times a week. The number of check-ins has still almost halved compared to a comparable week in 2019.
As of last Monday, the NS will run again according to the normal timetable during the day. At the beginning of next month, the trains will also run at night as usual.
Also read: Busy trains at NS again soon
