Traffic along the Ring Road in Iceland has never been as heavy as last year, according to the Icelandic Road Administration. It increased by more than 13 percent from the previous year, which is a record increase between years. The old record was from 2006 to 2007, when traffic went up by 6.8 percent.
The same is true for December of 2016, but traffic that month increased by more than 21 percent compared with December of 2015.
Traffic increased in every part of the country, but by far the most in East Iceland, or 52 percent. The least increase in traffic was in the capital area, or 18 percent.
Sixteen main vehicle counters were used to measure the traffic. The heaviest traffic was on Fridays, the least on Tuesdays.
The Road Administration suggests there may be three main reasons for traffic increase: the rapid rise in the number of tourists in the country, the economic boom, and, finally, good road conditions this winter, due to unseasonably mild weather.
