A consultation is underway on the 20-year masterplan for our area. Make sure that you have your say, especially on the needs of bus users and the importance of easy bus travel!
The Greater Cambridge Draft Local Plan sets out where new homes and workplaces could be built in the region and how infrastructure, community facilities, and services would support them. The Plan aims to create places where people can live with less reliance on cars for everyday journeys. To succeed in this ambition, however, the Plan will need to bring about a whole series of improvements to public transport.
Cambridge Area Bus Users supports the Plan’s vision to minimise reliance on cars, however believes its policies around bus travel need to be much stronger for bus travel to become a genuine option for everyone in Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire.
We have submitted a formal response to the consultation (read it here) and encourage you to feed in your comments as well. You can either submit comments through the Local Plan consultation website (we have suggested which links to follow below), or send an email to localplan@greatercambridgeplanning.org. The consultation will close at 5pm on Friday 30 January.
Suggested points
- The Plan must prioritise travel by public transport, walking/wheeling and cycling, rather than travel by electric car.
- Services are as important for bus travel as infrastructure; the Plan must recognise this.
Policy I/ST: Sustainable transport and connectivity
- New developments must be designed so buses can travel through them directly and efficiently
- Key bus routes must have frequent services 7-days a week with long operating hours and a guaranteed last bus home
- Cambridge needs measures to reduce congestion (or enable buses to bypass congestion)
- Bus services should start the first day new developments are occupied, and remain supported for an extended period
- The whole bus network needs to be improved; good services from new developments alone are not sufficient. The Plan should establish methods to raise funds to invest in buses.
- Electric cars should not be included here
Policy WS/HD: Creating healthy new developments
- A good bus network is a lifeline, connecting people with social networks, personal development opportunities and essential services at a cost they can afford. It is particularly important for young people, who have limited transport options and are often short of money. Bus travel is therefore an important tool to boost health, wellbeing and social inclusion. The Local Plan should recognise it as such.
Policy WS/CF: Community, sports, and leisure facilities
- The Plan should establish policies to bring about easy bus access to key services, education providers and community, sports and leisure facilities, especially those delivered via the Plan.
Cambridge Area Bus Users 