02 November 2021

Journey times and traffic jams on the rise in Glasgow since start of Cop26

02 November 2021

Traffic jams in Glasgow have surged due to the Cop26 climate summit, new figures show.

Average journey times in the Scottish city at 4pm on Monday took 58% longer compared with free-flow conditions, according to location technology firm TomTom.

That is up from 41% during the same period in 2019.

About 25,000 delegates are attending the event at Glasgow’s SEC Centre.

US President Joe Biden was one of the last world leaders to arrive, turning up in a multi-vehicle motorcade.

Stephanie Leonard, head of traffic innovation and policy at TomTom, said the conference’s impact on traffic is “indicative of the city’s limited network capacity”.

She went on: “As many of the world’s leaders descend on Glasgow for the Cop26 summit, it is a timely reminder of the challenge at hand for these nations who seek to develop a mobility landscape that is free of congestion and emissions.

“Today’s congestion level figures illustrate how the convoys ferrying the 25,000-plus delegates around the city over the course of the summit are likely to contribute to significant traffic congestion, which is indelibly linked to an increase in carbon emissions.”

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