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ADAC Traffic Jam Report: Almost Like Before Corona

Traffic on German highways returned to normal in an unwelcome way in 2021, with traffic jams becoming frequent again. The most affected was the A12.

Traffic jams on highways in 2021: almost as many as before Corona. | Photo: ADAC
Traffic jams on highways in 2021: almost as many as before Corona. | Photo: ADAC
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Johannes Reichel
von Nadine Bradl

The traffic situation on German motorways in 2021 was still marked by the Corona pandemic. As the current ADAC traffic jam report shows, the number of traffic jam reports increased almost back to pre-Corona levels compared to 2019, the last year before the pandemic. However, the total duration of disruptions was about a third less than in 2019. In terms of the total length of traffic jams, the ADAC even recorded a decrease of 40 percent.

More and longer traffic jams

Compared to 2020, the first Corona year, the ADAC again registered significantly more and also longer traffic jams. A total of 685,000 traffic jams (2020: 513,500) were counted last year. The duration of traffic disruptions summed up to 346,500 hours (2020: 256,000 hours), with the total length reaching 850,000 kilometers (2020: 679,000 kilometers).

Increase in traffic volume 

The cause of the changes compared to the previous two years was the interim significant declines in traffic volumes due to the various lockdowns because of Corona. Overall, there were still significantly fewer vehicles on the motorways in 2021 compared to the pre-Corona year 2019. However, in September 2021, traffic volumes almost reached pre-Corona levels again. The larger traffic volumes were also reflected in the traffic jam situation. With increasing traffic on the motorways, there were significantly more and longer traffic jams again from June 2021. The peak was in August, with around 83,000 traffic jams and a total traffic jam length of 123,000 kilometers.

Traffic jams up to 32 kilometers in length

The most traffic jams in 2021 occurred on Monday, February 8, and Tuesday, February 9, due to an extreme winter storm. At that time, the ADAC counted a total of around 8,800 traffic jams, with a total length of 17,700 kilometers, on both days. Drivers also had to be very patient on Friday, August 27. A total of 6,300 kilometers of traffic jams were recorded that day. Last year, traffic jams of 20 kilometers or more occurred 185 times. The longest traffic jam was 32 kilometers long and formed on Saturday, July 31, on the A8 motorway from Munich towards Salzburg between Grabenstätt and the Bad Reichenhall border crossing.

Traffic Jam Capital North Rhine-Westphalia

The number one federal state for traffic jams, as in previous years, is North Rhine-Westphalia. On its highways, 32 percent of all traffic jams were recorded. Bavaria experienced only half as many jams with 16 percent, followed by Baden-Württemberg with 9 percent. However, Bavaria had to endure the largest increase in traffic jam kilometers among all federal states. Of the 171,000 traffic jam kilometers registered in 2021 compared to 2020, 53,000 were in Bavaria, 42,600 in North Rhine-Westphalia, and 15,800 in Saxony.

Top Traffic Jam Leader A12

A new development is seen with the highways most burdened by traffic jams. Previously, the A3 was usually the long-distance highway with the most traffic jam kilometers relative to its length, but in 2021 it was overtaken by the A12 for the first time. The stretch between the Frankfurt/Oder border crossing and the eastern Berlin Ring led significantly over the A3 and A8 in terms of traffic jams. The cause for this was the numerous traffic jams between the border crossing and Frankfurt/Oder upon entering Germany.

Normalization This Year

The ADAC expects a normalization of the traffic situation on highways for the current year. However, it will likely only become evident in the coming years what influence the expansion of home office offerings on the one hand and the reduced use of public transport on the other hand will have on traffic. In order to permanently reduce traffic jams, public transport and rail services must become more attractive to win back and attract new customers. Bottlenecks on chronically overloaded highway sections should be swiftly eliminated, and traffic and construction management needs further improvement. Additionally, numerous dilapidated bridges must be replaced in a timely manner to avoid further bridge closures.

Translated automatically from German.
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