Early on Wednesday morning, hundreds of cycling activists, campaigners and residents of Glasgow marked ‘Transport Day’ at COP26, and joined GoBike to form a line of people with bikes stretching along the River Clyde to the conference. People of all ages stood peacefully along the side of the road asking that active travel is recognised at the conference as a part of the solution to the climate crisis.

Passers by were greeted to the sound of bike bells ringing as they walked along the riverside. Delegates stopped to take photos and ask protesters why they were there, which was exactly what we had hoped for.

This action followed the Global Day of Action for Climate Justice march on the Saturday where thousands of people with bikes joined Pedal on Parliament’s “Pedal on COP” Cycling and Sustainable Transport bloc in the record breaking turnout.

GoBike also added their signature along with more than 300 other cycling organisations, to a letter from the European Cyclists Federation, demanding a commitment to more cycling from world leaders.

And just last night, on Thursday 11th November we received confirmation that sustainable transport has now been added to the COP26 declaration. It’s a short sentence, but one that one that will be significant for future agreements on active travel. A small step, but a win nevertheless, and a move forward that would have been absent if it hadn’t have been for our efforts.

The press we had was incredible and definitely helped to get the message out.

Cycling commuter Victoria, joining in the Transport Day demo as part of her daily cycle commute with her two kids (9 & 11) said “We wanted to join in today to support GoBike with their message to COP26 delegates. Safe active travel for everyone, young and old, needs to be a realistic option for more people, and the politicians making the decisions are the ones who need to make that a reality.”

Another cyclist, Emily, joining the protest on the way to drop her two children at school, said, “Buying a cargo bike in order to live car-free has been the most satisfying and joyful thing our family has done to limit our own environmental impact. Why isn’t active travel a core focus of today’s discussions at COP26? This machine fights climate change!”

Protest organiser Iona, GoBike’s campaigns lead said “Today is ‘Transport Day’ at COP26 and active travel is not even on the table for discussions at the Blue Zone. At the conference electric cars are taking centre stage, while our sustainable form of transport – by far the cheapest and easiest way to cut emissions from transport – doesn’t even get a mention.”

She said “Transport is now the UK’s biggest contributor to climate change, yet nearly half of all journeys by car in Scotland are less than two miles. These are journeys that for many people could be swapped out for walking or cycling, if the conditions were made safer and more attractive. Meanwhile, the UK government are cutting the cost of car ownership. We need the COP to force through better investment and political will for sustainable transport modes if they are serious about the Paris Agreement to limit warming to 1.5 degrees.”

Convenor of GoBike Thomas Cornwallis said “After a long campaign and a lot of volunteer work to bring a petition to the council to make sure cycling was accessible, safe, and direct for people of the city and delegates during COP26, it was very disappointing to see how poorly the cycling diversion route was handled with signage taking over two weeks to appear, and with no accessible way to pass barriers. If cycling is to help us with the climate crisis, it needs attention and not left on the side.”

We – and you – were a big part of getting active travel finally recognised as a solution to the climate crisis at the historic COP26, and we thank everyone for their collective action on this. Thank you thank you thank you!

Wednesday is ‘Transport Day’ at COP26 and active travel is not even on the table for discussions. Cycling provision around the city and to the conference itself has been dire throughout the COP. At the conference, discussions on electric cars are taking centre stage, in fact our sustainable form of transport doesn’t even get a mention:

Transport is now the UK’s biggest contributor to climate change (1). Yet nearly half (47.9%) of all journeys by car in Scotland are less than two miles (2). These are journeys that for many people could be swapped out for walking or cycling, if the conditions were made safer and more attractive. This needs much better investment and political foresight than we have for sustainable transport around the world. Meanwhile, the UK government are cutting the cost of car ownership. We need the COP to force this through if they are serious about the Paris Agreement to limit warming to 1.5 degrees.

Let’s build on the impact we had at the climate march on Saturday – bring your banners, make some more, and help us remind the conference that ‘This machine fights climate change’.

Meet us on Lancefield Quay near the Squinty Bridge / Clyde Arc at 7:45am, or if the line has formed by the time you get there, slot yourself in! Please remember to keep a space between you and the next person to allow the public through if they need.

Get Glasgow Moving are holding a demo on public transport from 9am at George Square – please go and join them afterward if you have the time! Details of their event is at this link.

Join Gobike, Pedal on Parliament and everyone else from around the country who knows that safer cycling can save us, to let the conference know that sustainable transport is a key part of the solution to the climate crisis and needs to be on the table for discussion.

The bloc, which represents the needs of people who cycle as well as those who walk and want safer streets, and people who wish for better public transport provision, meets on Kelvin Way from 11:30am. Bring your bikes, your banners and your smiles. We will be flying the message that This Machine Fights Climate Change. More information about the bloc itself is here.

Although the bloc will move slowly and we will need to push our bikes during the march itself, there are loads of feeder rides from around the city that you can join for a pedal and to help you get to the start of the march in the safety of a group. Sign up at the links in the posters to let them know you’re coming.

Pedal on Parliament have all their feeders listed on this handy map. Share your experiences and photos with the hashtags #ThisMachineFightsClimateChange and #PedalOnCOP26

See you there!

The world needs much more cycling if we are to combat climate change. Without quicker and more determined action by governments worldwide to cut transport carbon emissions, we will be dooming present and future generations to a world that is more hostile and much less inhabitable.

CO₂ emissions from the transport sector continue to increase. Meanwhile, the transition to zero-emission cars and trucks will take decades to complete and will not solve other problems like traffic congestion and sedentary lifestyles. Despite this, COP26 Transport Day on 10 November is set to focus exclusively on the electrification of road vehicles as a solution to the climate crisis we are facing today.

ECF and its allies believe cycling represents one of humanity’s greatest hopes for a shift towards a zero-carbon future. Bicycle use produces zero emissions, delivers far-reaching positive societal impacts and – most importantly – is a technology that is already widely available today. The world cannot afford to wait decades for fossil-fuel cars to be fully phased out and replaced by electric vehicles. We must urgently leverage the solutions that cycling offers by radically scaling up its use.

The signatories to the open letter call on governments and leaders attending COP26 to declare commitments to significantly boost cycling levels at home and collectively commit to achieving a global target of higher cycling levels. The letter was sent to governments and transport ministers ahead of COP26. 

Thomas Cornwallis, Convenor of GoBike: “We have a recent consultation in Glasgow, Connecting Communities which highlighted that majority of people supported changes to make our streets suitable for active travel, so that it was an option for them. It’s time for governments at COP26 to realise this, and make sure that our urban spaces have the funding, the legislation and staff to quickly make our streets accessible for everyone to cycle.”

Jill Warren, CEO of the European Cyclists’ Federation: “There is no conceivable way for governments to reduce CO₂ emissions quickly enough to avoid the worst of the climate crisis without significantly more cycling. The devastating effects of accelerating global warming should be clear to everyone, and boosting cycling levels is the best way to quickly cut carbon emissions from transport on a massive scale.”

Henk Swarttouw, President of European Cyclists’ Federation and of the World Cycling Alliance: “Cycling should be a cornerstone of global, national and local strategies to meet net-zero carbon targets. At COP26, governments must commit to providing the financing and legislation for safe and equitable space for cycling everywhere. Citizens are ready for the change; now our leaders need to enable it.”

Read the open letter to governments at COP26: www.cop26cycling.com

GoBike have pushed hard for improvements to the initial diversion proposals and have had a few of our suggested improvements taken on board and implemented. We are however deeply disappointed that stronger decisions were not made to keep our sustainable form of transport safe and attractive to everyone during the climate conference. This was a missed opportunity for the city to make active travel the easiest choice during a period of road closures and predicted traffic chaos around Glasgow. We outline more on that further below.

Get Ready Glasgow (the COP communications arm of Glasgow City Council) have issued the following updated map to illustrate GCCs proposed diversions.

Routes between South and West

The NCN 75/7 traffic free route beside the Clyde will be closed between the Clyde Arc (Squinty Bridge) and Castlebank Street.

Finnieston Street north of the Squinty Bridge will be closed for cycling, but pavements here will be open for walking. 

The most direct route for cycling (and direct it is not!), which may include non-toucan crossings requiring cyclists to dismount will be via:

Clyde Street – North Street (NCN 756) – Elliott Street.

West routes

As well as the NCN 75/7 closure, cycling and walking paths that follow the north side of the Clydeside Expressway are expected to close for most of the duration of the conference. This affects the path between Castlebank Street, Ferry Road and Kelvinhaugh Street. Clydeside Expressway flyovers will also close.

A convoluted diversion has been suggested by Get Ready Glasgow that follows: 

Beith Street – Benalder Street – Old Dumbarton Road – Yorkhill Street – Kelvinhaugh Street – Argyle Street – Corunna Street – St Vincent Crescent – Minerva Street – West Greenhill Place (west bound) – path to Finnieston Street (east bound)

A large section of Argyle Street will be closed to all vehicles (including cyclists) for other COP26 events on the 1st, 5th and 6th November (see here). This excludes the small Kelvinhaugh St to Corunna St section that is included in the cycling diversion route. The diversion as above via Old Dumbarton Road / Yorkhill Street should be used on these days.

Routes between East and West

The Bridge to Nowhere flyovers are expected to close for some of the duration of the conference (Police Scotland have not released any detail on dates/times it might be closed). This cuts the West City Way and the NCN 765 route in half at the M8.

Glasgow City Council are diverting those usually using the Waterloo Street protected lane to the following streets, which will also include non-toucan crossings requiring cyclists to dismount:

Blythswood Street – Argyle Street – Anderston Crossing – path to Finnieston Street

GoBike Petition Outcomes

Thanks to all our supporters (with a Glasgow City Council postcode, yes we know!) who signed our petition to keep active travel open during COP26, we had the opportunity to present to council committee the issues with the closures and our key asks. You can read more about how that went here.

The committee found that council officers should engage with GoBike on improvements to their proposed diversions. We sent in a map of our suggestions on how the diversion route could be shortened (using the full length of Elliott Street) and where we could see the dire need for soft segregation to make the diversions safer (such as on Argyle Street). The engagement we received was less “engaging” and more “us nudging for a response a few times and then being told what had been decided”, however part of Elliott Street has been granted and some soft segregation has been planned.

What is less than acceptable is that the full length of Elliott Street will not be signed as a cycling diversion as its west side is being used as an access point to a satellite car park and taxi/bus drop off point for delegates for the conference. This would be delegates to a conference on how to overturn climate change, for whom private car use is being given precedence over active travel in an upside down version of the transport hierarchy.

The council and partners refused to meet to discuss using some of the vast space on Finnieston Street for cycling, and officers continue to deny Equalities Impact Assessment findings by suggesting that here, people can just get off their bikes and push them.

We are relieved that our suggestion of soft separation on Argyle Street at the dangerous double right turn from Kelvinhaugh Street onto Corunna Street is going to be implemented. We have even been promised the completion of the separated bike lane on Old Dumbarton Road, although with less than two days to go and a lot of work still to be done there we won’t be betting high stakes on that happening in time. 

We are not happy though, that the full diversion route is not going to be protected (such as this dangerous section of Argyle Street above), let alone meet minimum Cycling by Design guidance standards on a replacement for a traffic free route. Frankly at this stage, we aren’t even sure if the diversion signs will be up to scratch.

We’ve said this before, and we will say it again. The eyes of the world will be on our city during COP, and we had a key opportunity to demonstrate that active travel is a large part of the solution to the climate crisis we face. We believe that opportunity has now been missed. Not only will delegates be unable to reach the main conference site by bike, but people who live in and around Glasgow will find using bikes harder to get around during the conference.

We did make small gains throughout our campaign on this, and the diversion routes have been improved as a result of our hard work – thank you to our members who put their time and effort in. We wish we could have won much much more – if you are able to help us push harder and stronger next time please join us and get involved. There is clearly still so much to do in ensuring active travel gets the priority it deserves in Glasgow and beyond – we really need your help.

For now though – stay safe out there, and check the diversions!

The chair of the committee has asked officers to engage with GoBike about the closures, and to keep councillors updated. Officers also presented some new plans to include soft segregation along some very short stretches of the diversions. We have identified other stretches along the diversion route that also desperately need protection, as well as a suggested shortening of the diversion route, avoiding one of the most dangerous stretches. We have sent this suggestion map in to council officers for review.

We expect to meet with a representative of the Scottish Government shortly to also push them to go further and we will continue to push for cooperation between the council and Police Scotland in redetermining a lane of Finnieston Street for cycling. We were told at the hearing that security measures to ensure people’s safety is paramount, yet we don’t feel that the safety of people who would usually travel by bike on a traffic free route is being afforded the same protection. We also heard that people driving will also be affected by long diversions however we responded to say that the motor traffic diversions will be suitable for all people driving, and the cycling diversions will not.

The full statement and asks we gave to the councillors at the Wellbeing, Empowerment, Community and Citizen Engagement City Policy Committee is as follows:

Transport is now the UK’s biggest contributor to climate change. As COP26 comes to Glasgow  in November, Glasgow City Council have a duty, under their declared climate emergency, to do everything they can do to ensure that travel around the city during the conference is allowed to be as sustainable as possible.

We are in full understanding that the cordon around the COP26 site has been set by the UN, and while we are extremely disappointed that this has led to the closure of walking and cycling routes within the cordon site, we would like to focus on what can be done for active travel by Glasgow City Council in the areas OUTSIDE the cordon. We were disappointed, as the cycle campaign for the city, not to have been consulted, despite our attempts to engage, before cycling diversion plans were made public.

To start with, we are asking that all diversions for active travel are SAFE and DIRECT. The section of the National Cycle Network that is being closed is used by thousands of people a day, by Glasgow City Council’s own counts.

Many of these people use this route BECAUSE it is traffic free, and replacing it with a route that forces people on bikes to share space with motor vehicles, will almost certainly rule out active travel for many people in the city during the climate conference.

In order to be safe, and to adequately replace this traffic free route, diversions MUST be physically protected, and a dedicated space for cycling. We have seen with Spaces for People measures how quickly and cost effectively temporary protected cycle lanes can be created, and we ask that the experiences the council learned from Spaces for People are built upon and utilised for these essential diversions. Climate impact outcomes in the report have not taken the impact of poor cycling diversions, which force those unwilling to risk sharing space with motor traffic to resort to using their car.

We have cycled the route and have found that particularly on this stretch of the city centre end of Argyle Street, space is plenty but traffic is fast. Creating cycle lanes with measures such as cones or water filled barriers is entirely possible. Council officers have told us that the diversions will meet minimum design requirements. During a climate conference, and a climate emergency, we need the council to  surpass the minimum, so that the diversion is suitable for use by the people who would usually use the traffic-free Clyde Path. Painted lanes are not safe, they do not fit within the Core Design Principles of the Cycling by Design guidance, as a replacement suitable for most users, and they are simply not enough.

One particular area we would like to focus on is that of Finnieston Street. As you can see from this cordon map, the control of Finnieston Street sits out with the UN control area. This street is under the control of Glasgow City Council and Police Scotland, who we understand are using the street to provide vehicular access to delegates to the site.

Get Ready Glasgow have told us that Finnieston Street will be open for people walking, but closed for people cycling. They have said that this is due to PART of the road being used for vehicular access for delegates. The map in appendix 3.2 of your report shows incorrectly and misleadingly that cycling is allowed – it is an out of date map. Get Ready Glasgow have also stated that people on bikes are free to get off and push here. We know that designating a pavement as a cycle route where bikes need pushed, contravenes a whole host of design guidelines, not least accessibility legislation that takes people using bicycles as mobility aids into account.

As the pedestrian pavement on Finnieston Street is open to the public, we know that proximity to the site is not a security issue at this location. Get Ready Glasgow have also told us that only PART of the street is being used for vehicular access to the COP site. Aside from the sheer hypocrisy that there will be no active travel access to delegates attending a climate conference, we can see in this photo that there is more than enough space on Finnieston Street to use one of the many lanes for an active travel diversion lane. 

Without Finnieston Street being open to cycling, the diversions proposed by Glasgow City Council add a whole two miles on to the journey of those travelling by bike between the south and the west of the city. For people who have never cycled, this may not seem significant, but for cycling, this means an extra 10 minutes of travelling under your own steam, which is a significant increase to an active journey time.

We ask the council that they urgently open up talks with Police Scotland on the use of this street, before the police apply to the council for their ATTRO, to look at reutilising some of the space for a protected cycle lane.

The West City Way cycle route has also been rendered unusable by the proposed closures of the ‘Bridge to Nowhere’ flyovers. Other overpasses to the motorway that are closer to the cordon are remaining open,  such as on St Vincent Street and Berkley Street.. The impact that closing the Bridge to Nowhere has on cycling between the city centre and the west end is going to be devastating and we ask that this is reconsidered.

The Ferry Road to Kelvinhaugh Street cycle path that follows the Clydeside Expressway is outside of the security cordon and so there is no reason why it too, cannot remain open. The inconvenience caused by its closure is significant and so we also propose that this section remains open for active travel, reducing lengthy diversions.

So what we are asking for is three fold. We ask that councillors push council officers to:

1. Urgently work with Police Scotland to allow for the division of space on Finnieston Street, to allow for an active travel lane.
2. Work with GoBike to discuss issues we have with the proposed diversions, and to consider some diversion solutions we have found.
3. Ensure that all diversions are suitable for people who currently use the traffic free National Cycle Network that will be lost during COP – and that the diversions are SAFE, PROTECTED and DIRECT.

It is essential that much more is done for active travel during the climate conference and we would expect to see a council, who have declared a climate emergency, to do more than simply put up diversion signs along a long, convoluted and unsafe route for people cycling. The eyes of the world will be on our city during COP, where we will have a key opportunity to demonstrate that active travel – walking, wheeling and cycling, for commuters, key workers, delegates, shoppers, and everyone getting around our city under their own steam – is a large part of the solution to the climate crisis we face.

Glasgow City Council have put their planned closures of cycling and walking routes around the COP26 security cordon out for what they are calling “consultation”. The link to their Section 11 Order is here. This means that we now all have an opportunity to submit our representations or objections, giving our grounds for objection if so. 

The “consultation” has also noted that “we have proposed alternative routes to help pedestrians and cyclists navigate around the area during the event and would welcome comments or ideas about the proposed routes”. While we would have preferred to be consulted directly on this as outlined in our petition, we will use this opportunity to feed in our suggestions for improvements to the planned diversions, which we outline below.

We would encourage you to respond – the deadline if you wish to object is September 3rd.

GoBike plan to object to the Section 11 Order on the grounds that:

• The security cordon encompasses a number of key corridor active travel core path routes, which should remain open for all as a matter of priority at all times, not least during a climate conference. Diversions planned as a result of the core path closures mean that people walking and cycling will have to take lengthy diversions, where planned diversions for people on bikes are likely to be unsafe, unless Glasgow City Council agree to create cycle lanes physically protected from motor traffic.
• The cordon along Finnieston Street originally promised to keep space open for people cycling has now changed to walking only. The security plan demonstrates that all four lanes of this street are outside the security zone. The fact that the pavement will be open for walking suggests that proximity to the boundary is not an issue here. Creating a segregated cycle lane here with temporary barriers does not appear to raise obvious safety concerns and would significantly reduce the impact of the closures. This would require moving the boundary in only a few metres to provide a bi-directional active travel lane up and down Finnieston Street.

We have sent in a number of suggestions to council officers regarding the planned diversions. These centre around the need for our proposed Conference Active Travel Lanes which we hope will be adopted in order to see improvements made for people cycling in already difficult conditions.

1. Conference Active Travel Lanes

Closing a key city active travel corridor during a climate crisis has a devastating impact on measures that we and the council have been taking to encourage a greater modal shift towards active travel. To close active travel routes and fail to provide a high spec alternative that works for all users during a climate conference is deeply damaging to the safety of people choosing cycling, due to the environmental impact it will create, and also for the reputation of the city when the eyes of the world will be watching. For these reasons we need Glasgow City Council to do more – diversion signs and paint on the road is not going to be enough. We propose that Glasgow City Council work to create a network of Conference Active Travel Lanes around the city, particularly where key routes are to be closed.

A number of issues are present with the current planned diversions, as well as their length. Many of the streets, particularly Argyle Street are large streets with high volumes of fast moving traffic on them. These are not suitable roads for cycling for all users. James Watt Street is a one way street, currently narrowed by construction works and provides no suggested opportunity for contraflow cycling, therefore the diversion doesn’t work in practice here. Further, the diversion includes the expectation that people on bikes must dismount at pedestrian crossings under the Kingston Bridge.

Necessary diversions for a traffic free National Cycle Network route MUST retain their motor traffic free status in order to be suitable for “all users”. We have seen from Spaces for People schemes that temporary traffic free cycle lanes CAN be implemented quickly, and we would like to see the council build on this experience and use what has been learned through it, to provide safe diversionary spaces for people on bikes. 

The conference and its exclusion zone has been on the radar of the council for a long time, and we simply cannot accept that time is the issue with failing to implement a safe active travel diversion. We propose that all routes on the suggested diversions and on the proposed conference Active Travel Map provide separated space, dedicated for active travel, physically protected from motor traffic.

2. Finnieston Street. 

We urge Glasgow City Council to work hard to liaise with the police on recent decisions made on Finnieston Street. It is clear that if a Conference Active Travel Lane were present on Finnieston Street, that lengthy diversions (2 miles, by your proposed route) could be avoided. Asking people on bikes to get off and walk here is counter to all active travel provision plans and would fail to pass an equality impact assessment that takes the needs of people with disabilities using bikes as mobility aids, into account.

The security plan demonstrates that all four lanes of this street are outside the security zone. The fact that the pavement will be open for walking suggests that proximity to the   boundary is not an issue here. Creating a segregated cycle lane here with temporary barriers does not appear to raise obvious safety concerns and would significantly reduce the impact of the closures. This would require moving the boundary in only a few metres to provide a bi-directional active travel lane up and down Finnieston Street. The council needs to have a willingness to push further with the police on this and we ask that issues surrounding active travel are raised again on this.

3. The Clydeside Expressway 

We have had a communication from Glasgow City Council stating that the Clydeside Expressway will be periodically closed during the conference to motor traffic. We propose that the closures to motor traffic on this section of the Expressway extend throughout the period of the Section 11 implementation, and that this road is repurposed as a Conference Active Travel Lane.

4. Ferry Road to Kelvinhaugh Street Cycle Path

The cycle path that follows the Clydeside Expressway between Ferry Road and Kelvinhaugh Street is on the very edge of the security cordon and so there is no reason why it cannot remain open.  The security benefits from closing this section of the path to cyclists/pedestrians must be limited, yet the inconvenience caused by its closure is large. We propose that this section remains open for active travel, reducing lengthy diversions.

5. The West City Way and NCN 756 Bridge

Despite asking the question, we are still unclear as to the reasoning for the closure of these core paths and have not been satisfied with an answer as to why. These are vital sections of traffic free routes in the city and we propose that they are kept open in the absence of good reason for closure. If they absolutely must be closed, the closure should only be at times where the security risk is high.

We sincerely hope that Glasgow City Council will consider working proactively to improve an already difficult situation for people choosing cycling in our city.

Our petition (link here, you still have time to sign!) called for proper consultation with our cycle campaign prior to releasing the planned diversions, and the failure to do so is clearly demonstrated in the proposed diversions in the plan. Failure to consult with us has come despite numerous requests, plus council agreement that GoBike would be consulted directly, at the ‘Environment, Sustainability and Carbon Reduction City Policy Committee’ on Tuesday 8th of June.

While we are concerned that this Section 11 Order is very far removed from effective consultation, we will use this opportunity to feed in our proposals and hope that you can add your support.

It is essential that much more is done for active travel during the climate conference and we would expect to see a council, who have declared a climate emergency, to do more than simply put up diversion signs along a long, convoluted and unsafe route for people cycling. We believe that repurposing road space around the COP26 cordon for protected active travel lanes is the solution.

** We have sent these suggestions in to the council today and have already received endorsements and support from Glasgow Eco Trust, Get Glasgow Moving, the office of Patrick Harvie MSP **