The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority survey on bus services has now ended. Cambridge Area Bus Users submitted a narrative response.
Click here to read/download our submission (PDF 397KB). Below is a a short summary of some of our points.
We queried whether bus services are, currently fit for purpose for travel-to-work, journeys for 7/7 employment in health leisure and shopping, whether rural residents had the kind of services which will enable and encourage them to the the bus rather than the car.
We are critical of accessibility for people living with disabilities – particularly visual, hearing or hidden disabilities.
This ranges from bus tops on muddy verges, to the need for on-board route and stop information – particularly audio-visual information.
We stressed the need for better, reliable, accurate, comprehensive information on bus routes and fares and this to be accessible to all, especially people with visual disabilities.
We pointed to the lack of bus connections to Cambridge North station from Orchard Park, Arbury, Kings Hedges, Histon village centre, Cottenham, Fen Ditton, Quy, Bottisham, The Wilbrahams and The Swaffhams. Moreover, Cambourne lacks a direct bus service to any railway station.
We praised operators for introducing contactless and smartphone app technology for ticket purchase, but stressed the need for more innovation to speed boarding times, and for the simplification of (and prominent information on) fares, with the need for multi-operator, multi-modal ticketing being a key objective.
We praised operators Stagecoach and Whippet for introducing newer vehicles with higher-quality seating, which have helped bus travel to escape its previous spartan image. Independent operator A2B is to be commended for updating their fleet with good-quality second-hand vehicles for use on contracted services. Nearly all vehicles now meet Euro V standard (and many are Euro VI) for NOx and PM10/PM2.5 emissions.
Whilst buses are unlikely to be the major source of NOx and PM10/PM2.5 emissions, in the city centre, owing to the tighter testing regimes for heavy Euro VI diesel engines vs the Euro 6 diesel car/van, we believe that it is unacceptable that the latest round of Cambridgeshire County Council tenders (on behalf of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority) specifies that any bus which does not come into Cambridge only has to meet Euro III emissions standards, whilst anything that enters Cambridge only has to meet Euro IV. Improving on that specification could give a ‘quick win’ for air quality.
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By all means add your comment below this line, but please comment on our document as a whole. The foregoing is merely a short summary of some of our points.
Cambridge Area Bus Users 
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