Sunday 20 December 2015

The wrong kind of bollard?

This story goes back to a meeting of the City Council's South Area Committee on 5 October (and yes, I missed it at the time - although in my defence I was out of town...). As part of the "Open Forum" that's a standard item on area committee agendas, the minutes record the following:

"Mr Storer raised concerns regarding cyclists riding into bollards (generally in the dark) on the cycleway alongside the guided busway. He queried if the bollards were needed."

The minutes go on to record a few comments made on this topic, and a final action - writing a letter to the County Council, requesting further information.

So, now to the latest meeting of that committee (14 December). This generated a response from the County Council. This covers the status of the track adjacent to the Busway, and then goes on to address both the lighting and bollards used. One interesting sentence reads: "As a result of comments received about the bollards we have used a different design on the recently completed extension of the busway that will serve the new Cambridge North station." The number and location of bollards is also to be reviewed.

It's hard to read this, I think, without taking away from it a certain acceptance that the bollards already installed along the busway may not always be the most suitable - although you won't find any direct admission of that in the County's letter.

And then, in the Cambridge News of 17 December, comes an article giving details of a cyclist who was badly injured after hitting one of the bollards near the Hills Road bridge. At no point does the Cambridge News article refer to the South Area Committee's coverage of this issue - it may be that it's entirely coincidental timing that the article appeared just a few days after the committee heard from the County Council, but the balance of probability suggests otherwise.

Needless to say, if you want to know more about this topic - from the cyclists' perspective - then the Cambridge Cycling Campaign's latest newsletter has fuller coverage. Two articles, indeed.

Pending any changes, the message to cyclists using the bridleway/cycle track alongside the Busway appears to be: take care! I don't think that applies just to the bollards, though...

Friday 18 December 2015

Christmas and New Year bus timetable alterations

An outline of Stagecoach bus services operating in Cambridgeshire over the Christmas and New Year period can be found here.

Friday 27 November 2015

[Updated] Respect Signs (2)

In  June I reported that "Respect" signs had appeared along the busway maintenance track / bridle path / cycleway. The Council documents said that some larger ones would be placed on the surface of the track.

Quickly after the first signs appeared, some were modified with drawings of horses by people who wanted to make a point that the track is also a bridleway.

This month the larger signs on the track have appeared - one each side of every road junction - and they have been redesigned to include a rather faint horse in the background.



Respect sign at St Ives end of track
It remains to be seen how well they wear.

Update 16 January 2016.

Took this photo today of the one approaching the CRC Bus Stop from Milton Road. It has not taken long for this one to start breaking up.


16 January 2016


Wednesday 25 November 2015

Temporary closure of Foster Road bus stop 27 November

The Foster Road stop on the busway between Addenbrooke's and Trumpington Park & Ride will be closed on Friday 27th November between 10.00 and 15.00 to enable environmental works. Full details here.

This update also contains a link to Christmas and New Year timetable variations.

Tuesday 24 November 2015

Accident at Longstanton - again

Details are sketchy, but there's been another accident early this morning at Longstanton, where the Busway crosses the B1050. Just over a couple of months after a similar incident. This one also involves a van. What information there currently is (0900) can be found courtesy of the Cambridge News. According to the County Council's traffic feed on Twitter, the road (and, presumably, the Busway) had reopened by 0800.

Wednesday 18 November 2015

Pedestrian killed on Busway

A pedestrian was killed in an accident on the Busway yesterday afternoon (17 Nov) between Swavesey and St Ives. Details continue to come in. For more details you might want to consult the Cambridge News or BBC websites (I've provided links to what were the latest reports as of 1145 on 18 Nov).

Saturday 14 November 2015

Study on Beneft of Busway on Commuters Health

A study has been published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine examining the health benefits of the guided busway to 469 adult commuters who live within 30km of Cambridge.

It concluded that "Providing a new sustainable transport infrastructure was effective in promoting active commuting" (i.e. walking / cycling.)

Read the details here

Friday 6 November 2015

Road works affecting busway services 9-12 November

Road works in Houghton Road west of St Ives will cause some delays to evening services on busway route B and cancellation of two journeys on route A.

Full details here.

Wednesday 21 October 2015

Bus diversion on Sunday 25 October

Due to the Town and Gown 10k race Busway service B will be diverted and will not call at Shire Hall, Round Church Street/Jesus Lane  or New Square on Sunday morning up until 1pm.

Use Drummer Street Bus Station instead. Details here.

Friday 25 September 2015

Survey of busway structural faults

The legal dispute between Cambridgeshire County Council and BAM Nuttall, the contractors who built the busway, appears to be on hold while the two parties jointly fund a survey and investigation of the busway and its construction. Some elements of the survey will take place at night to minimise disruption to busway users.

Read more details at
http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Cambridgeshire-guided-busway-dug-investigations/story-27868295-detail/story.html


Friday 18 September 2015

Things you see from the Guided Busway


A memorial to a journey from Cambridge to Impington over 200 years ago.


From the Guided Busway you can see some things not visible from elsewhere.
In a field to the north of the busway between Histon and the Orchard Park turning there is this memorial.

Photo: David Parish,    March 2015

Have you wondered what it is?

It remembers Elizabeth Woodcock, and her journey from Cambridge to Impington in 1799 which took over 8 days.

Why did her journey take so long?  And why should her memorial be in the middle of a field?

On Saturday Feb 2nd 1799, Elizabeth Woodcock was returning from Cambridge market, to her home at Impington, on horseback, in a snowstorm. She was thrown from her horse, and unable to remount. Being shaken, and numbed with cold, she took shelter under a hawthorn hedge, where she became completely covered with drifting snow. On Sunday morning she heard the church bells, and passers-by in the distance, but was unable to attract attention. On the Monday, she made a hole in the snow above her head, and tied a red handkerchief on a stick, and raised it as a flag. But she was not found until the next Sunday when the Parish Clerk discovered her, and got help to rescue her.

A memorial stone was placed at the location where she was buried under the snow. By 1849 it had become defaced by visitors carving their initials on it, so a replacement was made, and is the one now seen.

The main panel on the north side (away from the busway) is now almost totally obscured by lichen, but I have found an older photo https://www.flickr.com/photos/67722122@N03/6498707819/in/pool-1853634@N23/  which can be deciphered as follows:

IN MEMORY OF ELIZ WOODCOCK LOST ON THIS SPOT IN A SNOW STORM WHEN RETURNING FROM CAMBRIDGE MARKET ON FEB 2nd 1799. 
SHE WAS DISCOVERED 8 DAYS AFTER 7 FEET BENEATH THE SNOW ALIVE & IN POSESSION OF ALL HER SENSES.
AND DIED JULY 24TH OF THE SAME YEAR AGED 42

There is also a plaque on "Woodcock House" - the thatched cottage where she lived, opposite Histon baptist church, remembering this event. 


Temporary closure of Foster Road guided bus stop

The bus stop at Foster Road, Trumpington, will be closed in both directions on Saturday 19 September because of engineering works.

Full details can be found here

Thursday 17 September 2015

Accident at Longstanton

An accident occurred on Wednesday morning, 16 September.  A van owned by HSS Hire crashed into a guided bus at the Longstanton road crossing. Witnesses report that the van jumped a red light, although no arrests seem to have been made. The bus was a single decker operating a city-bound "A" service.

Reports of the incident were provided by the BBC and the Cambridge News. Only the latter reports injuries.

Friday 14 August 2015

Bus diversions in St Ives

Due to road works at the junction of Ramsey Road and Houghton Road in St Ives on three evenings next week, buses on routes A and B will be diverted and will not call at stops on Ramsey Road nor the stop beside the shell Garage on Houghton Road.

The times when this diversion will be in place are : Mon 18 Aug 7pm to Tuesday 19 Aug 6am; Tue 19 Aug 7pm to Wed 20 Aug 6am and Wed 20 Aug 7pm to Thu 21 Aug 6 am.

Full details here.

Thursday 16 July 2015

Update about bus timetable changes

There will be changes to bus route B on Sunday 19th July as a result of the Race for Life - until 14.00 buses will not be able to serve Round Church Street or Jesus Lane. passengers are advised to use Drummer Street Bus Station.

And a reminder that there will be changes to both Stagecoach and Whippet busway routes starting from 16th July.

Details here.

Friday 10 July 2015

Counting Cycles

Thanks to "Matt" for raising this question.

In May 2014 I posted an article about the appearance of what I assumed was a cycle counter by the Ouse viaduct at St Ives.

Mike replied:
"You are right, it is a cycle counter, of the standard type that Cambs County Council use. It reports to the CCC with quarter hourly counts, but the stats that I've seen for the two on the new(-ish) Lodes Way are weekly, which isn't a great deal of use.

Installing counters is a condition of Sustrans' financial involvement, and Sustrans will probably also commission a manual count and survey questionaire."

I have since noticed a similar counter between Histon and Orchard Park, and a number of others on other cycle routes in the county.

So Cambridgesgire County Council should have quarter hourly data from these counters.

So firstly, lets ask: Does any reader of this blog knows where the data can be found?

If not I will ask CCC directly.

Sunday 5 July 2015

Stagecoach changes from 26 July

More changes from 26 July - this time courtesy of Stagecoach. These include the St Ives to Huntingdon Bus Station and Hinchingbrooke Hospital section(s) of routes A and B, and the relatively new route R (being retimed "following feedback received from users"). Full details, with links to the revised timetables, can be found on the Stagecoach website.

Saturday 27 June 2015

Respect Signs

It has not taken long for a "Respect" sign to get modified.

Two at Swavesey have been modified by somebody who clearly feels that they omit to encourage respect between all users - horse riders, cyclists, pedestrians and dog walkers - on what is officially a bridleway.

Modified sign at Swavesey.
Bridleway signs


Friday 26 June 2015

Whippet changes from 26 July

It's been a long time coming - indeed, it was back in mid-March that Andrew first reported that Whippet were planning changes to their services, including Busway C and D. Now it's reported that those changes will be implemented from July 26.

According to Whippet:

Buses will no longer operate as route D. All our guided buses will now be route C via Science Park. The journey to Long Road Sixth Form College will operate on all weekdays, not just college days, and will use The Busway between Cambridge Station and Addenbrooke’s Hospital to avoid the traffic on Hills Road.  Between the guided busway and Long Road College buses will serve bus stops on Robinson Way outside the Rosie Hospital.  The afternoon journey will be delayed by 10 minutes to give students enough time to reach the bus. The daytime pattern of departures will also now apply on Saturdays and will be complimented by the revised route 1A running on the opposite half hour, resulting in a 30-minute service from Cambridge Railway Station to St Ives.  The midday journey from Cambridge to Somersham will run an hour later, giving more time in the city. Times of route C from Cambridge City Centre in the evenings are adjusted slightly. Route 1A will provide later journeys to St Ives including a new 18:40 departure from Cambridge Railway Station.
So Route D is now "dead".

More information, including links to the new timetable, on the Whippet website.

Thursday 11 June 2015

Ouse viaduct closed 14 June

The Ouse viaduct will be closed for repairs this weekend - all day Sunday through to 04.00 Monday. Buses will be diverted between St Ives and Swavesey, and the Fen Drayton Lakes stop not served. The adjacent bridleway will also be closed. For more information see the County Council website.

Monday 8 June 2015

Signs on (and off) the busway

(1)
In the last week several of these notices have appeared along the length of the busway maintenance track / bridle path / cycleway:



Presumably  asking cyclists to show respect for pedestrians and vice versa.

But most of the signs are mounted high up. About the height of horse riders heads. Is it asking horse riders to show respect for pedestrians and cyclists? Seems unlikely.

A search finds this Twitter article https://twitter.com/gnomeicide/status/574853452414738432  where Richard Taylor says “Cllrs to spend public health cash putting “RESPECT” signs on Cambridge guided busway cycle/pedestrian path”.  Obviously relevant - but I have not found any Council minutes about this.

Anybody know any more?



 (2)
When the busway was built, it was stated that National Cycle Route 51 would be re-routed along the busway. Sure enough, signs soon appeared along the busway with the number 51 on them.

But for the next 3½ years the old signs remained on the route through Fenstanton, Fen Drayton, Swavesey, Longstanton, Oakington, Girton. A few weeks ago these were finally changed to local cycle route 24:






(3)
A new sign has been put up at Swavesey bus-stop by the Swavesey Meridian Magazine, showing a map of the village, and some places of interest.





(4)
I recently found this busy signpost 2/3 of the way through the "public footpath" connecting Trumpington to the busway through the allotments:


The top sign clearly says "Public Footpath". But the bottom one shows cyclists and pedestrians equally and points ahead to the busway (and cycle racks at the bus stop). Are cyclists allowed to ride on this one?

Friday 8 May 2015

Diversion, Cambridge city centre, 10-19 May

Round Church Street, in the centre of Cambridge, is to be closed from 10-19 May to allow carriageway resurfacing and telecoms installations works to be carried out. A number of bus services that enter/leave the city via Bridge Street will be diverted during this time, reaching/departing the city centre via Victoria Avenue instead. These include Busway B (and although, the County Council's announcement doesn't mention it, surely this must affect Busway D as well?).

Wednesday 29 April 2015

Michelin tyres for Whippet fleet

Following its takeover in November by by Tower Transit Group, Whippet has announced that its fleet (including its Busway vehicles) will be incorporated into its parent company's tyre management contract. This will see Michelin tyres being steadily fitted across the fleet, replacing a previous mixed tyre policy. Michelin will then be responsible for tyre management, technical and legislative expertise. The full story, doubtless based on a TTG press release, has appeared in a number of trade sources - here's the version that Military Technologies News put out.

Saturday 25 April 2015

Parking Charges at Guided Busway Park and Ride Sites

As previously reported here parking charges were due to be introduced at the St Ives & Longstanton Park & Ride sites "in April".

April is nearly gone, but there are clear preparations at St Ives, and signs stating that charges start on 14th May:

Notice of start of parking charges
There are a total of 7 ticket machines at St Ives - all currently covered over - two groups of 3, and one on its own.

Three behind the toilet block.
 
 
Three near the open area between the bus stops and the parking.
 
 
And one at the east end.
 
Also some additional signs around the car park:
 
 
 

 

Diversions in the Orchard Park area this weekend

This notice has been issued about route temporary route changes in the Orchard Park area.

Orchard Park Stop Closures
On both Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th April 2015 the Busway B service will be unable to call at either Orchard Park stop for journeys TOWARDS St Ives.
Customers travelling from Orchard Park West or East towards St Ives can board the B service on Histon Road, just to the south of Kings Hedges Road as the bus will run via Histon Road to Histon and Impington where the normal route will resume.
Customers travelling from Central Cambridge to Orchard Park inclusive should use the B service as normal and alight the bus at the stop on Histon Road, just before the junction with Kings Hedges Road.
B services TOWARDS Central Cambridge are unaffected as are all other Busway services and stops.



Full details here.

Thursday 16 April 2015

New pedestrian/cyclist links to/from Busway near Cambridge Railway Station

Two new links from near to the Busway at Cambridge Railway Station have recently opened and will benefit pedestrians connecting to/from Busway A, C & R services (as well as cyclists). One is a short link from south of the station to the east side of Hills Rd (likely to be of most use if you're heading to the Leisure Park area); the other is again from the south of the station, but starts south of the Hills Road bridge and goes through to Fitzwilliam Road/Clarendon Road (and from there to Brooklands Avenue).

There's a very handy summary in the current issue of the Cambridge Cycling Campaign Newsletter. More detailed descriptions and maps were provided in issue 117 (the paths numbered 1 and 4). Thanks to the CCC for documenting this and for making the information available.

I've been unable to determine whether these are public rights of way, permissive access paths or have some other legal status. Neither currently show up on the County Council's interactive map as rights of way/permissive paths.

Busway engineering work - Saturday 18 April

Bus route A will be diverted on Saturday 18 April not 16 March as indicated in the first email.

This announcement was sent out yesterday:

On Saturday 18th April 2015 the southern section of Busway track will be closed for engineering work.
Due to the nature of the work being carried out the Busway A will be using an alternative route between Trumpington park&ride and Addenbrooke's Hospital. This means the service will be unable to call at Trumpington Foster Road ALL DAY on Saturday 18th March.
Customers usually boarding/alighting at this location should either use the Busway A from/to Trumpington park&ride or the Citi 7 service from/to Trumpington High Street as an alternative. Please note the Citi 7 only runs as far as Central Cambridge northbound.
All other Busway stops and services are unaffected.

Correction issued today reads as follows:

Yesterday we sent an email alerting you about forthcoming engineering works affecting services stopping at Foster Road. The incorrect dates were included in this email.
The work at Foster Road is taking place ALL DAY on Saturday 18th April. Please disregard the other dates mentioned in the previous email.
We are sorry for any confusion caused by the previous email.


Saturday 11 April 2015

Busway track repairs

If you are travelling on the busway today, you may notice that the track is closed near Histon for repair work. That section of track has been quite bumpy for some time. Between Longstanton and Oakington, and also between Oakington and Histon,  there are two other places where they've dug out some of the track ballast, presumably with a view to carrying out repairs.

But how bad is ithe busway track in reality? Will every track section have to be lifted and new rubber [ads inserted?

An article in the Wisbech Standard here suggests that it is very bad.

The busway between Trumpington and  Addenbrooke's will be closed for repairs next weekend.

Also reported in the Cambridge News here.



Friday 10 April 2015

Engineering works affecting busway track between Histon and Orchard Park - 11 and 12 April

The section of busway between Histon and the Orchard Park junction will be closed during Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th April. This is to allow engineering works to the track.

Full details of the changes are given here.

Tuesday 7 April 2015

New busway route starts 7 April

A new peak-hour bus route (service R) linking Trumpington park & Ride with Cambridge Rail Station starts tomorrow (7 April).

See article in Cambridge News.

Saturday 21 March 2015

Changes to Stagecoach fares and timetables

From 29 March, Stagecoach is introducing fare rises which will affect not only busway services but also other Stagecoach routes in Cambridgeshire.

This table shows the main new fares:

Cambridge Dayrider - £4.10
Cambridge Dayrider Plus - £6.40
Cambridge Megarider - £13.50 (Smart) £14.00 (Paper)
Cambridge Megarider Plus - £24.00 (Smart) £24.50 (Paper)
Family Dayrider Plus -  £7.20
Cambridge Megarider Xtra - £47.50
Cambridge Megarider Plus Xtra - £87.00

The price of multi operator tickets on the busway will also change.

Full details here.

Details of timetable changes which start from 6 April can also be found at this link.

Friday 20 March 2015

New busway to be built in Bristol

Balfour Beattie has been awarded a £26 million contract to build a two mile guided busway in Bristol as part of a scheme to get buses quickly past heavily congested roads. It will form part of the MetroBus system and will link Ashton Vale with Temple Meads railway station.

http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/Councils-award-26-million-contract-build-mile/story-25900574-detail/story.html

Wednesday 18 March 2015

Changes to Whippet busway services

Whippet are proposing to make sme changes to their bus services, including those that serve the busway. The new timetables are planned to start from 25 May, and have been made public before they are sent to the Traffic Commissioners for approval.

You can read full details at http://www.go-whippet.co.uk/march-consultation/

How will busway services be affected?

Here are the main changes affecting the busway: 

Route D will be abolished, and all service run as route C via the Science Park.

The Long Road route C services will run on all weekdays, not just college days and will call at Robinson Road outside the Rosie Hospital.

Daytime Saturday C services will be the same as weekdays, and will alternate with the 1A giving a half hourly service between Cambridge Rail Station and St Ives.

Service 5 will run a circular St Ives-Hemingford Abbots-Hemingford Grey and will provide a feeder to the busway service C.

There are links to the proposed new timetables and comments can be sent in to Whippet by 22 March using this link on their website.

Wednesday 11 March 2015

New busway service between Trumpington and Cambridge Rail Station

Starting 5th April a new busway service (route R) will start, connecting Trumpington Park and Ride with Cambridge Railway Station during the morning and evening travel-to-work tomes Mondays to Fridays only. This is timed to give a 5 minute journey between Trumpington and the Station, a lot quicker than the existing route A which loops round Addenbrooke's Hospital.

There are links to the new service R timetable at
http://thebusway.info/serviceupdates.aspx

At the same time there will be a number of changes to service A and B, especially early morning departures from Hinchingbrooke and St Ives.

Timetables ( both before and after 5 April) for routes A and B can be found at http://thebusway.info/routes-and-times.aspx

During the Easter Weekend Stagecoach busway services will be as follows:

Good Friday 3 April - SUNDAY SERVICE
Saturday 4 April - NORMAL SATURDAY SERVICE
Easter Sunday 5 April - NORMAL SUNDAY SERVICE
Bank Holiday 6 April - SUNDAY SERVICE

Details here.


Saturday 28 February 2015

Traffic speeds at Busway/A1096 crossing in St Ives

This week's Hunts Post (25 February, page 15) reveals the effect that the opening of the busway has had on traffic speeds on Harrison Way (the A1096) which links St Ives with the A14. The article is based pm department of Transport figures which show that speed on the A1096 has fallen by 5.8mph since July 2007. Not all the falls in speed can be attributed to the busway, however.

An 'all time low' was reached in January 2013, but since the traffic lights were re-sequenced to prevent pedestrians and cyclists from triggering the lights so frequently, speeds have started to rise again.

To read the article, visit the Hunts Post here.

The article does not, however, deal with other causes of delay on the A1096 such as closure of the A1123 at Earith Bridge when the river is high and St Ives becomes gridlocked. When are politicians going to vote money to raise the A1123 onto stilts at Earith to prevent these disruptive closures?

Nor does the article touch on the innumerable delays caused to bus passengers by  congestion in the narrow streets of St Ives, or in central Cambridge.

Friday 27 February 2015

Cambridge Half Marathon - Sunday 8th March

Busway route B will be diverted on Sunday 8th March until 4pm because of road closures for the half marathon.

Stops at New Square and Jesus Lane/Round Church Street will be unavailabe in both directions. The Castle Street (Shire Hall) stop will be only be available for buses going to St Ives.

Details here.

Friday 13 February 2015

Lighting the Busway - progress, or, Festina lente

Readers with good memories may recall three postings last year concerning proposals to light the southern section of the Busway. Approval was eventually given by the County Council's Economy and Environment Committee on 21 October. Now, there's an item on the Cambridge News website reporting that work on the lighting is "set to be completed before autumn". Whilst in theory "before autumn" could even mean "tomorrow", reading the story rather than the headline shows that it's more reasonable to expect completion in, say, "late summer" - the tender's only recently gone out, contractors aren't expected on site until June, and switch isn't anticipated until September, according to the Council. Still, progress is progress.

Thursday 12 February 2015

Stagecoach Busway vehicles no longer use 100% biofuel

The briefest of stories on the Cambridge News website reports that Stagecoach is no longer fuelling its Busway vehicles with 100% biofuel. As part of a change which Stagecoach seems to applying across the whole of the local fleet, they're to use a fuel with contains only 30% biofuel in its mix. Of course, biofuels and bioenergy are themselves hugely controversial, but that's a whole different story!

Wednesday 11 February 2015

Parking charges at busway Park & Ride sites

Parking charges are to start in April at St Ives and Longstanton Park & Ride sites according to an article in the Hunts Post (11 February, page 3).

The daily charge will be £1. There will be monthly ticket (£20) and annual ticket (£230). Prices for longer stay have been published (18-24 hours £10, 24-48 hours £20, 48-72 hours £30).

To prevent 'displacement' parking in Meadow Lane, restrictions will be introduced there.

Also reported by Cambridge News here.

Tuesday 3 February 2015

Turning railways into busways?


The Institute of Economic Affairs has published a report  Paving over the tracks: a better use of Britain’s railways?,  by Paul Withrington and Richard Wellings which outlines how commuters could pay over 40% less for their journeys and more passengers could enjoy the luxury of a seat if the industry was sufficiently liberalised to allow some commuter railways in London to be converted into busways.

Today's Times newspaper (3 February 2015, page 14) covers this news referring to successes in Latin America and Asia, and noting that 'the system' has been adopted on our very own Cambridgeshire Guided Busway.

The Times article can be read here although you may need to be a Times subscriber to gain access.

There's also a leading article Trains, buses and sardines on page 28 of today's Times, viewable here.

Is the Guided Busway a good model for others to follow?

The Institute of Economic Affairs, a free-market think tank, has today published a report with the provocative title Paving over the tracks: a better use of Britain’s railways? According to the report: "There is strong evidence that allowing some commuter railways to be converted into busways would provide higher capacity at lower cost, reduce fares for passengers and cut subsidies from taxpayers." Of course, there are many different "busway" models, and readers of this blog will doubtless be most interested to know what the report has to say about the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway. In slightly fewer than 500 words, it makes clear that "a conventional toll road, priced and managed to avoid congestion, would almost certainly have delivered far greater economic benefits from converting the old rail beds". One of the report's main objections is to the "restrictive, bespoke infrastructure". What I can't find is an explanation as to why a toll road is used for comparison here when the remainder of the report seems to be making a case for other forms of dedicated busways (i.e. excluding other forms of road transport). In any case, it's surely better if you read the report for yourselves, rather than rely on me to summarise it accurately and fairly.

The report has received a degree of press coverage already - here, for example, are links to articles in the Independent (including fairly dismissive comments from the DoT and the Campaign for Better Transport) and the Cambridge News. A quick web search will throw up others.

Parking charges at St Ives and Longstanton park and ride sites (2)

A brief follow-up to Andrew's 11 Nov posting. Although the County Council approved the introduction of parking charges at these two sites in November, implementation still requires a Traffic Regulation Order. This was advertised in the Cambridge News on 19 December, and at its meeting next Tuesday the Highways and Community Infrastructure Committee will consider the officer's report on that stage of the process. The TRO generated just 5 objections/representations - they're included in the report, which can be found here. That document also sets out the proposed scale of charges, which the committee also needs to approve (basically: £1 per day, with season tickets offering discounts for regular users; more expensive for longer stays, with a maximum of 72 hours per stay).

Tuesday 20 January 2015

Dangers of satnav

Another two instances of the dangers of over reliance on satnav have been reported in the Cambridge News, one on the short single track section of busway near Trumpington, and the other near Histon.

http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/London-taxi-driver-red-faced-cab-caught-car-trap/story-25876347-detail/story.html