The severity of the traffic jams shows that we have learned nothing from Corona

Oh, how nice it was to work from home. We would all continue to do that even after Corona. You can’t take me to the office anymore! Yes, this is also reflected in the increasing density of traffic jams.

The lessons from Corona have not really stuck, as we can conclude from the latest ANWB traffic jam figures. The severity of traffic jams (length x duration) on Dutch roads has increased by 19 percent since March 2022, when the last Corona measures were withdrawn.

Traffic congestion increased

In other words: the daily traffic jams are back, both on the highways and on the surrounding streets. According to ANWB, the number of traffic jams has increased on almost all working days. Congestion during the morning rush hour increased by an average of 12 percent. A further 20 percent were added in the afternoon and evening.

What is striking is that the traffic congestion on Friday morning has fallen even further by 14 percent and there is hardly any rush hour anymore.

Differences depending on the province

The differences per province are large. In North Brabant, traffic jams increased by 35 percent. North and South Holland are in second and third place with increases of 31 and 24 percent respectively. In Utrecht the increase wasn’t too bad: 9 percent.