Estimates based on data compiled by the city of Reykjavík indicate that car traffic in the capital area will only continue to grow, unless viable alternatives are provided to city commuters.
Despite being home to around 150,000 people, rush hour traffic in the Reykjavík area can be and often is very congested. Bumper-to-bumper traffic is not uncommon on such thoroughfares are Kringlumýrarbraut and Miklabraut.
Vísir now reports that, according to estimates from the Environmental and Planning Department of the city of Reykjavík, car traffic in the capital area is only going to get more congested, unless real alternatives are introduced.
Currently, close to 200,000 cars pass through the city each day, and has been steadily increasing since long before then. If the pattern holds, the city estimates, as many as 260,000 cars will pass through the city each day by 2030.
The city contends that encouraging people to make more use of public transportation – and to make public transportation more appealing to the general public – could reduce this traffic by about 15,000 cars a day.
How that will manage to happen remains to be seen – bus fare in Iceland is the most expensive of the Nordic countries, and fares will increase again after December 1.
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