Traffic on Estonian roads increases further in first half of 2018
Average traffic per day on Estonia's main roads increased by 4.13% in the first half of 2018 compared with the same period last year. The country's arterial roads are busier as well, with an increase of 3.22% in the same period.
The number of vehicles moving on Estonia's main roads network per day has increased by 4.13% from an average of 5,989 to 6,236. Traffic on Estonia's arterial roads (referred to as "basic roads" in translated legislation) has increased from 3,468 to 3,579, which is an increase of 3.22%.
Local traffic on the last distribution level moving on secondary roads has risen from 14,115 to 14,268 vehicles, the Road Administration reported.
The Road Administration's press representative, Kai Simson, told ERR that the fact has to be taken into account that there are only three points where vehicles on secondary roads are counted regularly. "They are all on high-frequency roads close to Tallinn, and they only represent a very small part of the actual traffic on secondary roads," Simson said.
On Estonia's main roads, traffic increased the most on the Riga-Pskov road in Võru County (32.2%), the Tallinn ring road (15.3%), and the Tallinn-Pärnu-Ikla road (5.6%). Not a single section of Estonia's main roads has seen a reduction of traffic, the Road Administration said.
Traffic on arterial roads increased the most on the Võru-Mõniste-Valga road (20.5%) and the Narva-Narva-Jõesuu-Hiiemetsa road (9.5%). A decrease of traffic of 1% was registered on the Jõgeva-Põltsamaa road.
The Road Administration has a total of 876 temporary vehicle counts planned for 2018. The development of traffic is influenced by factors such as economic performance, fuel price, the development of local infrastructure, and ease of access.
Traffic on Estonia's main roads has increased by some 20% over the last ten years, the Road Administration said.
Editor: Dario Cavegn
