New bus gates to be introduced on two busy Glasgow city centre streets from next month

Two busy Glasgow streets around Central Station will see buses given priority from next month.

New traffic measures will come into effect from September 2, creating bus gates on Union Street and Oswald Street.

With up to 360 buses every hour using the routes at peak times for north and southbound services, Glasgow City Council say the measures will improve journey times and reliability.

Originally proposed in the 2014 City Centre Transport Strategy, the bus gates will be in operation between 7am and 7pm each day, and will be monitored by cameras.

Only buses, taxis, private hires, bikes and goods vehicles will be able to access the streets at these times.

Drive into town? New bus gates are coming from 2 Sept ?

-Union St (Gordon St to Jamaica St)
-Oswald St (Midland St to Argyle St)

Only buses, taxis, private hires, cycles & goods vehicles will have access from 7am-7pm to improve journey times, making streets cleaner & safer ? pic.twitter.com/WAvjLcp0tb

— Glasgow City Council (@GlasgowCC) August 15, 2019

Councillor Anna Richardson, City Convener for Sustainability and Carbon Reduction, said: “It is vital we do everything that we can to sustain public transport in a city where almost half of our population has no access to a car.

“The bus remains the most significant form of public transport in Glasgow, but the bus sector is facing a challenging future.

“Giving buses priority on key routes gives operators the chance to run the kind of reliable and efficient services that people want to use. By providing clearer channels for buses to travel along, we can reduce delays and get closer to the bus industry target of ‘on time every time’.”

Drivers from 23 countries booked in Scotland’s bus lanes in June’s £760,000 ticket blitz – click here to read more

She added: “Reducing traffic in such a busy part of town will also reduce the emissions that pedestrians breathe in and simply make it safer for people to walk around. “

The new gates will filter traffic on Oswald Street between Midland Street and Argyle Street with restricted access on Union Street to be between Gordon Street and Argyle Street between 7am and 7pm each day.

As part of the new measures, the number of disabled parking bays on West Nile Street will be increased to account for the loss of access to Union Street.

Alternative routes using Wellington Street and Robertson Street for southbound vehicles and York Street and West Campbell Street for northbound vehicles are being suggested with diversion signs in place initially.

Temporary variable message signs will also be placed at key locations in the city centre to advise drivers of the forthcoming changes.

Motorists caught driving in bus gates face a £60 fine.

In last weekend’s Sunday Post, we revealed that drivers from more than 20 countries were ticketed in Glasgow’s existing bus lanes in just one month this summer.

Glasgow, which has long held the title of Scotland’s bus lane capital, issued 6,510 tickets in June – with 60% going to postcodes outside the city.

Tickets were also sent to drivers in 23 countries outwith the UK, with dozens going to the US, Canada and Australia.

The fines were also sent to drivers in Argentina, Brazil, Malaysia, Montenegro and Singapore.

A total of 12,690 fines – worth £760,000 – were issued in June across Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen, the three Scottish cities that operate bus-lane cameras.

A majority of tickets issued in Edinburgh and Aberdeen in June were to cars local to those cities – with no fines sent abroad from either city.