THE Evening Times has launched a new campaign to ease Glasgow's daily gridlock. Every hour, hundreds of buses, taxis and private cars clog up the city's main streets. We want action to create a modern, sensible traffic management system for Glasgow that eases congestion.

THE Evening Times has launched a new campaign to ease Glasgow's daily gridlock. Every hour, hundreds of buses, taxis and private cars clog up the city's main streets. We want action to create a modern, sensible traffic management system for Glasgow that eases congestion. Today IAIN LUNDY finds out just how badly rush-hour gridlock hits public transport . . .

IT sounded a daunting challenge - walk through Glasgow city centre faster than a bus can travel. But so congested is the traffic at rush hour that it was an easier "victory" than I had imagined possible.

The race was between me walking from outside the Evening Times' offices at the top of Renfield Street to Union Street and the junction with Argyle Street and a No66 First bus travelling the same route.

We chose the peak evening traffic time at around 5.30pm for the city centre challenge.

But because it was a Friday evening and the traffic was lighter than other week nights, I figured the bus had an advantage before we even started.

To make matters worse for me the pavements on the east side of Renfield Street are narrow and - at that time of night - crammed with long queues at bus stops.

So I was going to have to fight my way through crowds of people to reach my destination.

But I reckoned without a number of obstacles blocking the bus's progress:

1... The sheer volume of buses, taxis and private cars, even on a Friday evening, using the city's busiest public transport corridor.

2... The impact of "pinch points" at certain junctions - where the number of lanes reduce from three to two.

3... The increase in buses coming on to Renfield Street from roads like West Regent Street and West George Street.

4... The tightly-packed nature of the bus stops meaning buses having to weave in and out of lanes to pick up and drop off passengers.

On any given day the volume of bus traffic coming down Renfield Street and Union Street is phenomenal.

According to Glasgow City Council statistics an average of 230 buses an hour travel the route - at peak times that figure is closer to 300.

At some bus stops, 65 buses an hour - more than one a minute - stop for passengers.

In addition thousands of private cars and taxis use the street every day.

And goods vehicles serving the many local businesses on the street are often parked on either side.

On Friday around 3.30pm - before the rush hour had started - I timed a No66 East Kilbride bus travelling the length of the street.

It took four minutes and 38 seconds to travel from Renfrew Street to Argyle Street - far faster than I could walk.

Two hours later - when the race proper got under way - I was struck by how quickly the bus was able to travel the first quarter of the journey.

It negotiated the first slightly difficult point - the lights at Sauchiehall Street - without any problem and left me behind as it went through Bath Street.

I was trailing badly at this stage and doubting if the race could be won.

But the next three major junctions - West Regent Street, West George Street and St Vincent Street - proved the bus's undoing.

Traffic lights and a build-up of road users meant I was able to pass the bus before it reached Gordon Street.

It then had to negotiate the most difficult pinch point - the narrowing of Renfield Street to two lanes at the Gordon Street junction, near Central Station.

And by that stage of the journey it was "jostling" with another dozen or so buses as they headed on to Union Street.

What you think of city's transport
EILEEN SKIVINGTON, 54, city centre, retired: I think there should be more park and ride areas. We have come into Glasgow from the north today and there is not an opportunity for us to drive only so far, leave our cars, and get a Subway ticket.	ANDREW BELL, 50, South Side, fishmonger: We should extend the underground, that is the answer. I think they need to extend it right out to the South Side because it gets so gridlocked out in the Shawlands area too.	KATHLEEN McGARVEY, 54, city centre, teacher: I've just come back from Berlin and they have an excellent system. It is an integrated system where one ticket can take you anywhere in the city and to the outskirts, on any form of transport.	DAVID MURRAY, 35, Yoker, student: I commute into the city centre for college and I think the fewer cars on the road the better. The pressure on the bus drivers due to these troubles causes them to focus on times and forget about safety on buses.

There are only two bus stops currently being used between there and Argyle Street - two others are out of commission while work is carried out to improve the Egyptian Halls.

So navigating Union Street alone took the bus more than five minutes.

I had reached the Argyle Street junction from Renfield Street in a brisk but comfortable seven minutes and 29 seconds.

A full three and a half minutes later - the stopwatch was on 11 minutes exactly - the bus pulled away from the Union Street traffic lights and turned left into Argyle Street.

It was not the most scientific of exercises but it clearly demonstrated the daily chaos experienced by drivers and pedestrians in gridlocked Glasgow.

A spokeswoman for First said: "We are aware Renfield Street/Union Street can be congested at times and we are fully committed to doing all we can to improve the situation for our passengers.

"We deploy a team of inspectors to this area on a daily basis to ensure our buses keep moving as quickly as possible.

"But we do continue to experience delays particularly between the junctions at St Vincent Street and Gordon Street, where the road layout reduces from three lanes to two.

"As a key bus service provider in this area, we do constantly monitor the situation and maintain regular dialogue with Glasgow City Council and other agencies to explore options to further improve bus movements and we will continue to do this."