A reminder that the Greater Cambridge Partnership consultation on bus improvements and road charging is still live—and residents of East Cambridgeshire can have their say until midday on Friday 23 December.

The survey, information about the proposals, an interactive map, frequently asked questions, dates of public meetings, and ways to share your thoughts are all available at http://www.greatercambridge.org.uk/mc-2022.

There are three parts to the proposal.

(1) Transforming the bus network
From mid-2023, transformation of the bus network through new routes, additional services, cheaper fares and longer operating hours.

(2) Investing in other sustainable travel schemes
Investment in new sustainable travel schemes, such as better walking and cycling links, for areas in and immediately around Cambridge.

(3) Creating a Sustainable Travel Zone
A Sustainable Travel Zone with a road user charge for driving within the zone between 7:00AM and 7:00PM on weekdays. This would fund the bus improvements and other travel schemes above. The Zone would be fully operational in 2027/28 but only once the first bus improvements were introduced.

Problems and solutions

Most people would agree that the level of public transport in Cambridgeshire is grim, and that traffic congestion in Cambridge is a problem which will only get worse with more growth. Better public transport would certainly help families that cannot afford a car, or those who cannot drive due to youth or age or poor health who still need to travel around. Fewer cars on the road would make more room for on-road public transport such as buses to run more quickly and to timetable.

The proposals include a scheme of exemptions, discounts, and refunds for various types of traveller.

However, it’s easier to get a consensus about the problems than about the solutions.

Where does the money come from to improve local public transport? The Government refused to fund Cambridgeshire’s bus improvement plan. The Chancellor’s statement today was full of tax rises, not spending increases, as he looks for £35-60Bn of cuts. The leaked suggestion by the Mayor of Cambridgeshire & Peterborough of setting a Mayoral precept for bus services, was strongly opposed by some local council leaders. If none of these, and if not a road charge, where does the money come from for the uplift in public transport we need?

Are buses the right solution? My personal view is that I would like to see a light rail or tram-style network, like the one I used as a tourist in Bordeaux this summer. Rails in the ground, stations with platforms, inspire confidence that the routes will still be there in six weeks’ time, that we know to our cost isn’t the same with bus services. But how do we get from here to there?

East Cambridgeshire counts

Above all, as an East Cambridgeshire councillor, I want to see a solution that connects our district properly into the emerging network around Cambridge. All the energy in the development of plans for public transport to date—whether it’s the guided busway, or Cambridge Connect’s light rail proposal—has been directed in a curve from south east of Cambridge up to Huntingdonshire, leaving East Cambridgeshire increasingly isolated. To an extent that’s a choice by East Cambridgeshire, whose leadership prefers to sit on the sidelines and throw rocks rather than engage in serious dialogue with its neighbours. But it’s not good for East Cambridgeshire residents.

Any solution—whether the one currently open to consultation or something different—must take the needs of East Cambridgeshire residents (including those without a car) into account, and give them better, cheaper, and more convenient public transport access to work, education, health care, leisure and retail. I’m not sure that what’s currently on the table gets that balance right.

So it’s really important that East Cambridgeshire residents respond to the survey. That’s the official survey, at http://www.greatercambridge.org.uk/mc-2022

How would the proposals affect how you and how you travel into and around Cambridge? Would you benefit from the bus proposals? Would your travel plans become easier, or more difficult?

Do respond to the survey by the 23 December deadline, and email consultations@greatercambridge.org.uk if you have any queries.