Unusually cold weather in May did not stop motorists from taking to the highways. According to statistics collected by the Icelandic Road Administration the past May was the busiest on record on the island’s highways. Highway traffic in May grew by 6.3% over the past year, which is well above the average. Since 2011 the annual growth has been 3.9% on average.
Growth was greatest in Eastern and Northern Iceland. In Eastern Iceland traffic grew by 19% and by 15.5% in Northern Iceland. Traffic in Reykjavik grew by only 3.4%, indicating the growing numbers of motorists are primarily made up of tourists and travellers.
Read more: A few tips about driving in Iceland
The previous record for traffic in May was in 2008. Following the financial crisis of 2008 traffic dropped significantly, but has grown steadily since then. The Road Administration attributes a significant portion of this growth to increasing tourism. A total of 380,000 foreigners have visited Iceland since the beginning of the year, which is 90,000 more than had visited at the same time last year.
Unusually cold weather in May did not stop motorists from taking to the highways. According to statistics collected by the Icelandic Road Administration the past May was the busiest on record on the island’s highways. Highway traffic in May grew by 6.3% over the past year, which is well above the average. Since 2011 the annual growth has been 3.9% on average.
Growth was greatest in Eastern and Northern Iceland. In Eastern Iceland traffic grew by 19% and by 15.5% in Northern Iceland. Traffic in Reykjavik grew by only 3.4%, indicating the growing numbers of motorists are primarily made up of tourists and travellers.
Read more: A few tips about driving in Iceland
The previous record for traffic in May was in 2008. Following the financial crisis of 2008 traffic dropped significantly, but has grown steadily since then. The Road Administration attributes a significant portion of this growth to increasing tourism. A total of 380,000 foreigners have visited Iceland since the beginning of the year, which is 90,000 more than had visited at the same time last year.
