Traffic has never been busier since the beginning of it being measured than in the last month of July, but the increase from last year’s record year was seven percent. The Icelandic Road Administration has hundreds of counters, and sixteen key counters around Iceland, to monitor the traffic. The biggest increase is in the South, 16% over the whole year, the least in the East, where the increase is 4%. Friday is the busiest day, Saturday is the quietest. Thirty thousand rental cars are now in circulation, during the peak season, there are 90 thousand tourists in the country every week, which means that there is a rental car available for every third tourist.
The Icelandic Road Administration closely monitors all traffic, for example last weekend, 31,000 vehicles passed through Dalvík for Fiskidagurinn (the Fishday). Ten times the town’s population. If you look at the counters of the Road Administration for August 15th, 18 vehicles went through Melrakkaslétta, 21 through Kaldidalur, 59 were heading north to Trékyllisvík in Strandir or back, 250 were heading through Ísafjarðardjúp to and from Ísafjörður or Bolungarvík, 1700 arrived at Jökulsarlón, 2200 vehicles on the route via Gullfoss, 3400 via Vík in Mýrdalur. On this day, 15 thousand vehicles arrived or left the airport in Keflavík.
Photographs & text: Páll Stefánsson
Reykjavík 16/08/2023 : A7R IV : FE 1.8/135mm GM, FE 1.8/20mm G, FE 1.2/50mm GM
