Glasgow Traffic Problems

Question 1

Explain Number of Commuters

Answer 1

41% of Glaswegians commute to work by car, causing morning and evening rush hours.
This is made worse as commutes tend to travel on a limited number of routes into the city e.g. M8, Paisley Road West.

Question 2

Explain Increased Car Ownership

Answer 2

Increased car ownership leads to congestion and road traffic accidents.
Glasgow has the largest volume of traffic in Scotland -between 1991 and 2005 car ownership in Glasgow increased by 50%.

Question 3

Explain the 19th Century Grid Iron Street Pattern

Answer 3

The Victorian grid iron streets in Glasgow’s city centre were built before cars and are very narrow. This limits traffic flow
This problem is made worse by on street parking.

Question 4

Explain Bridging Points

Answer 4

There are a limited number of road crossings across the Clyde (bridging points) which creates bottlenecks.
e.g. 170, 000 vehicles cross the Kingston bridge per day – the busiest section of road in Europe

Question 5

Explain Sphere of Influence

Answer 5

Glasgow has a large sphere of influence.
E.g. many people travel in to use its services – shopping/concerts/sporting events making the roads busier and more congested

Question 6

Explain Reduced Inner City Parking

Answer 6

Tighter controls and urban regeneration has removed many of the cheaper “gap site” car parks, which has in turn increased on street parking causing streets to be narrowed reducing traffic flow.