New measures introduced to combat city centre congestion

Published: 28 June 2019

New measures to tackle Glasgow city centre traffic congestion are set to come into effect for the first time on June 30.

The city centre road regulations currently in force in Glasgow allow motorists to park up all day free of charge on a Sunday, which stifles the availability of parking spaces and, in turn, creates a build-up of traffic as drivers search for somewhere to leave their vehicles. Traffic congestion is known to create issues with air pollution.

The new measures, which have been the subject of a statutory consultation process, will see payment charges required for the use of on-street parking bays on a Sunday with waiting and loading restrictions also applied to single yellow lines. The use of on-street parking bays will be limited to a maximum stay of two hours, which is identical to arrangements for on-street parking in the city centre on a Monday to Saturday.

These new arrangements will ensure a greater and more consistent turn-over in the availability of city centre on-street parking spaces on a Sunday and make it easier to find an on-street parking space for the purpose of shopping, leisure, tourism, business and disabled access.

It is intended that the new measures will encourage a shift towards more sustainable forms of transport such as walking, cycling, buses and trains and also a greater use of the city centre's 12,000-plus off-street car parking spaces - 50% of which are almost never used.

A spokesman for the council said: "This new range of measures is about tackling parking bay blocking in the city centre on a Sunday.

"Many drivers currently park on the street on a Saturday night, leaving their vehicles unmoved until well into the next day. Other motorists also take up spaces for long spells throughout the day on a Sunday.

"The new regulations will make Sunday on-street parking more frequently available to shoppers, visitors, tourists, blue badge holders and residents alike. Improved parking regulations are known to reduce congestion and this in turn should improve air quality in the city centre.

"The number of people walking and cycling to and from the city centre has been increasing in recent years and the new active travel infrastructure that is being put in place will helps us build upon this trend. We are also introducing new measures to give greater priority to buses, which will help to ensure a faster and more reliable service in and out of the city centre.

 "Encouraging greater use of sustainable transport within the city centre is a key theme within the recent reports by the Connectivity Commission. The new measures for Sunday parking are part of our efforts to meet the Commission's vision of a reformed city centre transport system."

As part of the new measures, a number of taxi ranks will be extended or introduced across the city centre to provide further alternative options for people travelling to and from town.

Signage that supports the change has been installed across the city centre, allowing to enforcement of the new regulations to begin on Sunday, June 30.

Once in effect, the charges for Sunday on-street parking will be the same as other days of the week. The current charge for on-street parking is £1 for 15 mins with a maximum stay of 2 hours.

Further details can be access through our webpage City Centre - New Parking and Loading Restrictions on Sunday.