Tag: bus services

University/Whippet Universal Launch

We posted earlier about the Revised University/Whippet U service from Monday 2nd October.

Here are some details from the launch event at West Hub, JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 0US, on Friday 29th September 2023.

photo as caption Registration mark UN14BUS
One of the nine Mellor Sigma 12 buses serving the U1/U2 routes
This is one of two with personalised registration marks
Note the cameras which replace traditional exterior mirrors

We don’t intend to duplicate reports from elsewhere, but add a few details about the vehicles and the attention to detail which has gone into the new vehicles and the re-imagined routes.

Reports from the University and the news media, give the overview and key details of the new U1/U2 7-day/week service from Girton Corner to the Cambridge Biomedical Campus. (Yes, the Biomedical Campus is served on Sundays, and Newnham gains a Sunday bus service to the rail station and the Biomedical Campus.)

From the new Whippet Bus website:

Some details of the newly-agreed eight-year contract:

High specification buses

The nine Mellor Sigma 12 buses – designed, engineered and fitted out in the UK – have two wheelchair/buggy bays (each with three tip-up seats for when not fully occupied by wheelchairs or child buggies) and ten highly-accessible, fixed, high-back seats on the low-floor section, forward of the raised area to the rear, under which some of the batteries are housed.

photo as caption
Interior of one of the Mellor Sigma 12 vehicles showing ten highly-accessible, fixed, high-back seats on the low-floor section, forward of the raised area

Above the front wheel arches are three slightly-wider single seats designed to accommodate a parent with a small child.

photo as caption
One of the three slightly-wider single seats designed to accommodate a parent with a small child

Smartphone getting low on its charge? The University, Whippet and Mellor have the solution…

photo as caption
You can charge up wirelessly, or with your USB-A or USB-C cable
Note, also, the STOP button on the seat-back and the button for the reading lamp

Passengers benefit from clear audio-visual announcements for the direction of travel (eg ‘Towards Girton Corner’) and the next stop, comfortable high-backed seats (ten of which are accessible on the low-floor section), two wheelchair/buggy bays, multi-way phone charging, a STOP button on every seat-back, and even a reading-lamp to help decipher those all-important marginalia.

Drivers have the benefits of external cameras at the front (replacing traditional mirrors) and at the rear, an AI-assisted hazard detection system, fully adjustable driving-seat, steering wheel and a dashboard which adjusts with the wheel.

Mellor Bus

Find out more about Rochdale-based Mellor here. The Mellor Sigma (∑) range can be browsed here. View/download the ∑ brochure here.

An integrated passenger experience

The enhanced audio-visual announcements mentioned above are only part of the mission to remove anxiety from bus travel. The installation of seat-back STOP buttons in addition to more traditionally-located buttons help those with hidden disabilities. But these features are only part of the integrated mission.

Photo of West Hub bus stop, showing features listed in following paragraph
West Hub bus stop, towards Cambridge Biomedical Campus

All stops have been updated with a printed timetable in a weatherproof case, and a bus stop flag which shows the direction of travel. Wherever possible, bus stops have many more passenger-friendly features.

The West Hub bus stop shown in the foregoing photograph, has a shelter with integrated seating, good hard-standing, a printed timetable in a weatherproof case, e-paper real-time passenger information, and gives easy access to the bus for wheelchair users. The bus stop flag reads ‘towards city centre, rail station & Biomedical Campus’.

This stop fulfils all of the criteria for quality Bus stop infrastructure in our joint briefing paper with Living Streets, Cambridge.

A feature to give a smile

photo as caption Registration mark UN14CAM
The other of the two vehicles with personalised registration marks

Recently, Roger French OBE DL MA, BusAndTrainUser, visited Whippet as part of his fortnightly A to Z of bus and train companies. Read the blogpost here: W is for Whippet.

More on the Universal contract…
Cambridge Universal service shows bus collaboration possibilities By Tim Deakin, RouteOne October 16, 2023

This post is open for (polite) comments.

Revised University/Whippet U service from Monday 2nd October

Significant changes to the University’s “Universal” (or “U”) service are taking place on Monday 2nd October.

Two distinct services are being created, to be known as “U1” and “U2”.

U1 is essentially the same as the extended version of the current service – the one that calls at Girton Corner (but only a very few times a day at present). Throughout most of the day alternate services will extend to/from Girton Corner, but otherwise follow the existing route (except that journeys towards Girton Corner call adjacent to Eddington Sainsbury’s and not across the road).

U2 takes a different route between Grange Road and Queen’s College, serving the whole of Grange Road and Barton and Newnham Roads between Grange Road and Silver Street. Omitting, therefore, West Road. Some U2 journeys extend to/from Girton Corner.

One other significant change is that weekend services will again serve the Biomedical Campus (as happened during the Covid pandemic).

Overall frequency remains unchanged. Services from the Biomedical Campus continue to serve Homerton College (and Hills Road more generally) whilst the northbound lane of the southern section of the Busway remains closed to buses.

The service is operated by Whippet on behalf of the University of Cambridge.

The new timetable – and a handy route map for those unfamiliar with the area – is available from the Whippet website.

Making Connections

Image from Greater Cambridge Partnership's Making Connections webpage, showing: image of two happy, young heterosexual couples, in a circle with imagine bubbles captioned "Imagine if We had £50Million a year to invest in public transport. Also shown are the logos of Greater Cambridge Partnership and Cambridgeshire County Council.

The Greater Cambridge Partnership proposals

Better bus services and a Sustainable Travel Zone

Recent bus service withdrawals had people worrying how they would get to work or college. And it necessitated a breakneck scramble to find new operators by the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority.

Together with the continuing disruption caused by cancellations, this rather makes the case for democratic control over bus operators.

We need better reliability, more services, and more affordable fares.

The Greater Cambridge Partnership’s City Access proposals are riding to the rescue

If you want safe walking and cycling, reliable buses and a positive future for everyone, make your voice heard today!

The Greater Cambridge Partnership have promised £50 million annually for radically-improved bus services, funded by money from the city deal, signed with central government in 2014 and not from council tax or business rates.

But, longer-term, this money will run out and a sustainable revenue-stream will be required. Under national legislation, this will be legally ring-fenced for transport improvements.

And public money must be safeguarded: the benefits should be for bus passengers, not for bumper payouts to bus company shareholders (and foreign owners in some cases).

The GCP is working closely with the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority who can exercise powers (under the Bus Services Act 2017) to prevent bus operators ever again causing such disruption to people’s lives.

More about the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority’s potential powers

Image of single-deck bus overlaid with text: Cambridge Area Buses Under Public Control?

The Bus Services Act 2017 – passed under a Conservative government, with all-party support – provides Mayoral Combined Authorities (including the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority) with a number of options to improve bus services, including powers to implement bus franchising, akin to the system operated by Transport for London.

Full details and links to publications can be found here: Bus Franchising, Quality Partnerships, and other ways of Improving bus services

Making Connections Consultation

The Greater Cambridge Partnership has launched a City Access Public Consultation under the title Making Connections 2022.

How should Cambridge Area Bus Users members and supporters respond?

Take a look at this handy 5-minute Consultation response guide, compiled by the Cambridge Sustainable Travel Alliance.

Cambridge Sustainable Travel Alliance logo

Cambridge Area Bus Users’ secretary has been working closely with the other members of the Cambridge Sustainable Travel Alliance (mainly Camcycle and Cambridge Living Streets) to raise awareness of the Greater Cambridge Partnership proposals and to compile this Consultation response guide.

Bus Users group contributions to this Consultation response guide are taken from our Aims & Priorities document (PDF). In general, The GCP proposals are in line with what we set out in that 2019 document: more services, better frequencies, lower fares and improved reliability.

However, whilst that document called for operators and local authorities to co-operate on reliability (which implies tackling congestion) and for the GCP to generate funding for unprofitable routes, we have no existing policy on a congestion charge. It was, therefore, not possible to contribute a Cambridge Area Bus Users’ view on that aspect of the consultation. You will need to make up your own mind.

What are the Greater Cambridge Partnership proposing?

Image from Greater Cambridge Partnership's Making Connections brochure, showing: image of two happy, young heterosexual couples, in a circle with imagine bubbles captioned "Imagine if We lived in a place that prioritised people over cars." Also shown are the logos of Greater Cambridge Partnership and Cambridgeshire County Council, with the text: "MAKING CONNECTIONS Have your say on proposals for faster, cheaper, more reliable bus services and safer cycling through the introduction of a Sustainable Travel Zone. A City Access Public Consultation."
  1. Transforming the bus network: From as early as mid-2023, The GCP are proposing to transform the bus network through more services to more locations, with cheaper fares set at £1 (city zone) and £2 (wider area).
  2. Investing in other sustainable travel schemes: Alongside the bus network, the GCP areproposing to invest in new sustainable travel schemes, such as better walking and cycling links.
  3. Creating a Sustainable Travel Zone: The GCP areproposing the introduction of a Sustainable Travel Zone in the form of a road user charge on behalf of Cambridgeshire County Council. Vehicles would be charged for driving within the Zone between 7am and 7pm on weekdays, and money raised would fund improvements to the bus network and other sustainable travel schemes. The Zone would be fully operational in 2027/28 but only once the first bus improvements are introduced.

The proposals will see:

  • Double the hours of service and miles covered of the pre-pandemic Greater Cambridge bus network
  • £1 flat fares for single journeys in the Cambridge bus zone, and £2 fares in the wider area
  • 50% expected reduction of traffic in Cambridge

Full details are in the Greater Cambridge Partnership Making Connections booklet (PDF).

How can you help?

It is important that as many bus users as possible give their views on the Greater Cambridge Partnership proposals, before the consultation closes on Friday 23 December 2022.

Complete it yourself and encourage your spouse/partner, your teenage children, your parents and your neighbours to give their views.

It’s easy:

You don’t need to live within the Greater Cambridge boundaries. If you and/or a member of your household uses buses to travel in and around Cambridge, the survey needs your views. 

Get involved in promoting sustainable travel!

Cambridge Sustainable Travel Alliance's If Not Now Then When? logo

Cambridge Sustainable Travel Alliance needs individual supporters who can help promote the campaign.
Contact Cambridge Sustainable Travel Alliance by email to find out more. 

  • Could you tell your story about how poor bus services have impacted on your life?
  • Could you tell people about how better bus services would improve your life?
  • The CSTA team need online stories, stories for press releases and stories for online videos.
  • Could you help distribute the IF NOT NOW THEN WHEN? leaflets around your streets, your village or join other members, leafleting in the city centre, or other locations?
Front of Cambridge Sustainable Travel Alliance's If Not Now Then When? leaflet with text: If Not Now Then When? When the next bus is delayed? When the next service is cut? Time is running out to improve transport in Cambridgeshire. Support the Sustainable Travel Zone package and help transform buses for the better for all who need them.
Rear of Cambridge Sustainable Travel Alliance's If Not Now Then When? leaflet with text: What is the Sustainable Travel Zone? The Sustainable Travel Zone is a proposal to reduce traffic in Cambridge and create space and funding for better walking, cycling and buses. A daily road charge would apply inside the zone from 7am to 7pm once sustainable alternatives are in place. If the plan goes ahead, it would: ● Transform the bus network, with cheaper fares set at £1 (within Cambridge) and £2 (for journeys outside Cambridge) and more services to more locations from 5am to 1am ● Deliver better walking and cycling routes, inside and outside the city ● Reduce car journeys to make walking and cycling safer, buses more reliable and create space for people (e.g. seating, greenery). Why do we think you should support it? Cambridgeshire Sustainable Travel Alliance is a coalition formed by organisations working for sustainable transport including Cambridge Area Bus Users. We support the plans because we think they will: ● Make jobs, education and activities accessible to more people (not everyone can afford or use a car) ● Take back control of bus services so that decisions on routes, times and fares can be made for the benefit of all not just bus operators ● Tackle climate change & improve air quality and road safety.