Cold weather, hot traffic? The 2026 Winter Games traffic analysis

This February, the Winter Games captivate audiences around the world, bringing a surge of fans to mountain venues and host cities across the Italian regions of Lombardy, Trentino-Aldo Adige and Veneto. HERE Technologies examines real-world traffic trends surrounding major competition sites to reveal where event-day gridlock peaks — creating the biggest hurdles for spectators racing to catch the action.

Our traffic data is derived from HERE Real-Time Traffic, which lets drivers predict traffic delays and calculate routes with more safety and accuracy.

Real-time traffic insights for major locations at a glance

Below dashboard shows 11 Winter Games locations, highlighting what is happening right now on the ground. Hovering over the map reveals a pop-up with a detailed information about competitions per location and real-time congestion status. The line chart below illustrates the percentage change in congestion over the past three hours compared with the same time one week earlier. Hovering reveals absolute congestion levels and local time.

What to expect

1. Milan: urban traffic hotspot

• Host of the opening ceremony and multiple ice sport venues, driving heavy inbound travel

• Temporary restricted traffic zones and road closures around venues might compress vehicle flow

• Peak congestion expected near major arterials, rail stations, and airport connections

• Event start and end times likely to trigger congestion spikes

2. Cortina d’Ampezzo: alpine access bottleneck

• Mountain setting with limited road access creates natural congestion points

• Single main access routes funnel spectator traffic into narrow corridors

• Vehicle restrictions and permit-only zones push visitors toward shuttle systems

• Winter weather conditions further amplify delays on already constrained roads

Our dashboard updates every five minutes, 24 hours a day. Check back regularly to see how congestion evolves throughout the winter games and beyond!

Interested in more traffic analytics? Check our stories about football stadiums in the US, German soccer stadium traffic, our Paris Olympics venues traffic analysis and the European soccer tournament stadium traffic analysis.

Methodology

• Congestion (also called congestion score or jam factor): a value between 0 and 10 representing the density of traffic, with 0 being the least congested and 10 being the most congested

• Radius: 2km around each stadium