FAQs

The Making Connections consultation asks people for their thoughts on the Greater Cambridge Partnership’s proposals for transforming public transport, cycling and walking and reducing pollution and congestion. This includes:

• Major improvements to our bus network through more frequent, more reliable services, using cleaner vehicles on improved routes;
• Creating space for improvements to walking, cycling and our public spaces;
• Options for raising money to pay for improvements to the transport network, such as a pollution, flexible or parking charge. The money raised would be invested directly into better sustainable transport

At this stage there is no specific scheme but a set of proposals and potential options we would like to hear people’s views on. 

A second public consultation would be likely to take place in 2022 and would focus on more specific proposals, taking in to account the feedback received.

Our area is facing many pressures over the coming years, including poor air quality, high carbon emissions, limited choices for people to use public transport, and continued growth of traffic. The GCP and our partners want to encourage sustainable travel, such as public transport, walking and cycling, to help us all to reduce emissions and congestion and improve access to the opportunities that Greater Cambridge has to offer.

Feedback from our 2019 survey, ‘Choices for Better Journeys’ showed that people want to see a transformed public transport network and action to tackle air pollution and congestion. The Greater Cambridge Citizens’ Assembly recommended the GCP should take action to deliver better bus services and create space for people to walk, cycle and enjoy the city. 

Without action, traffic congestion in Greater Cambridge will be a formidable barrier to enabling sustainable growth in our area and one which has a huge impact on people’s health and wellbeing. Research has found that 106 deaths a year can be attributed to poor air quality in the city. 

The way in which people travel has undoubtedly changed during the pandemic, with more people working from home. However, there are many jobs that cannot be done from home and many people still commute for work, including in our world-leading hospitals and laboratories and our world-famous city centre. People also need to travel into Cambridge for education and leisure.

Flexible working might well continue. But even with flexible working, traffic levels are likely to rise as the area continues to grow. Greater Cambridge needs to move to a greener, better transport system to tackle climate change, reduce air pollution, and enable the area to grow sustainably so our world-leading industries can continue to thrive. 

Our Choices for Better Journeys consultation in 2019 sought views on travel and transport in Greater Cambridge. 

This consultation focusses on possible public transport improvements and measures that we think could transform the way that people travel in our area.

It forms part of our overall strategy for sustainable transport in Greater Cambridge.

Transforming our public transport, investing in cycling and walking routes and helping people to make fewer journeys by car has many benefits. The Making Connections proposals aim to:

• Reduce the time car drivers and bus passengers spend stuck in traffic
• Help more people access work, education, health services, green spaces and leisure
• Improve air quality in the city and reduce deaths attributable to air pollution
• Reduce carbon emissions from transport as part of meeting local net zero commitments
• Free up road space for better walking and cycling infrastructure
• Improve public health by increasing walking and cycling and improving air quality
• Create space for people to enjoy our city
• Make Greater Cambridge a more pleasant place to live, work, travel or just be

A key part of the Making Connections proposals is a transformed bus network, offering more frequent services, with longer operating hours, more rural connections, and new routes to our growing employment sites. This would mean:

• Most market towns and larger villages having 6 bus services to Cambridge every hour, some of which would be express services cutting up to 30 minutes off journey times;
• Rural villages moving from irregular, limited services to an hourly bus service running during the day and into the evening. This would include new connections to rail stations and travel hubs to open up onward journeys;
• In the city, there would be more direct services to employment areas and services would operate on at least a 10-minute frequency. More direct services would take less circuitous routes alongside more local services;
• Faster journey times to bring more people within easy reach of workplaces, schools, hospitals and leisure facilities;
• New zero-emission bus services to cut air pollution and carbon emissions;
• Lower fares would make bus travel more affordable.

Transforming the Greater Cambridge bus network and making fares cheaper is estimated to cost £40m per year. 

To make public transport, cycling and walking a fast, reliable and attractive alternative  we must:

• Cut congestion and free up road space for more services
• Raise money to invest in additional services, cheaper fares and improved walking and cycling routes

There are two main ways to free up road space and raise money to invest in better bus services and more cycling and walking infrastructure – a road charging zone, or additional parking charges.

• A road charging zone would charge vehicles for driving within a set area. There are two main forms of road charging that would lower traffic levels, reduce pollution and raise money to invest in transport improvements – a pollution charge and a flexible charge. 
• Additional parking charges could include applying higher charges to existing car parking and introducing a Workplace Parking Levy (WPL). A WPL is a yearly fee charged to organisations per parking space at their premises. Organisations can choose whether to pass on the cost of the charge to employees, reduce/remove their parking spaces or absorb the cost themselves. 

These charges could also be used in combination with each other. Find out more about these types of charge in the consultation brochure.

We are not proposing banning cars from the city, but are looking at ways to lower traffic levels and make the city less car-focused. The proposals aim to open up opportunities to access employment, education, services and leisure by giving people the option to use a transformed public transport, cycling and walking network. Lots of people would like to travel in this way now, and reduce the amount of car trips they have to take, or even save money by only owning one car. At the moment, that’s very difficult for people and we want to give them that option. 

Just as importantly, the message on climate is clear that we need to transform our transport system to reduce our emissions and continue to access opportunity without doing further damage to our planet. Our current transport system is harming our environment and our health, and we want to change that. 

By tackling congestion and reducing car use we can deliver an attractive public transport, cycling and walking network that gives people a real alternative to their car, whilst still giving people the option to drive when they need to. 

An improved public transport service would benefit everyone. Fewer cars on the roads means more space for safer walking and cycling, faster and more reliable buses and lower levels of pollution.

Encouraging people to use their car less when travelling within or into the city will impact on different people in different ways and we want to hear from people about what those effects might be. The impact on some people will be more pronounced than on others, and we will need to consider how measures can help to mitigate that. Other places have considered specific support for some groups to help them adapt to a charge. This has included things like discounted public transport fares, support to move to using cleaner vehicles, as well as phasing in charges for some groups.

We anticipate that a second consultation on more specific schemes would take place in summer 2022.

This consultation will run for six weeks until December 20 2021.  The feedback we receive will help us to consider more specific scheme options, and we anticipate that we will consult on those in the summer of 2022.

A decision would then follow in late 2022 about the final package of measures to be taken forward, with implementation from 2023 onwards. 

If a charge was to be introduced, public transport improvements would be made first so that people had an attractive alternative to driving. 

An improved future bus network will require funding. The GCP can provide some of this in the short term to kick start bus service improvements, but some form of charging will be needed to make the network sustainable in the future. We are interested in hearing people’s thoughts on what sort of charge that could be but at this stage there are no specific recommendations, and we anticipate that this would form part of a future consultation.

Yes, the aim is that new buses will be zero emission and that the existing bus fleet will be replaced by zero emission buses over the next few years. The GCP is working with partners to make this happen. We recently won funding for 30 electric buses for Cambridge in a joint bid with the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority.  

We want to offer cheaper fares and easier types of ticket to make bus journeys more affordable and straightforward. We are asking for your views on your priorities for fares to help us design future proposals. 

Cheaper fares and bus service improvements will cost money. Experience from other areas shows us that even when public transport is used by a lot of people it still needs some level of subsidy. The consultation asks for your views on priorities for funding transport improvements and how we should raise the money. 

The existing busways – along with the proposed busways and active travel links being developed by the GCP – provide dedicated, reliable public transport services to enable thousands of people to travel quickly and easily from growing communities into the city.

The busways will provide dedicated infrastructure to provide fast and reliable services into and out of Cambridge. But within the city, we need to lower traffic levels so buses can access key destinations more quickly and provide people with an attractive alternative to their car. 

Connecting those in more rural areas is a key driver for these proposals.  We want a public transport system that works for the whole of Greater Cambridge and beyond. We want to make journeys simpler and better. The consultation sets out proposed improvements to rural bus services, moving from infrequent, slow services to hourly buses running into the evenings. We are also delivering a network of Greenways, new walking, cycling and active travel routes that connect to the city, as well as investing in travel hubs to make switching between modes of transport easier.

We are looking at ways to reduce traffic levels, and therefore congestion, by potentially introducing a form of charging in the city. This could be a pollution, flexible or parking charge. Find out more in our consultation brochure. 

A charging zone could help to reduce the number of cars driving within Cambridge, which will mean that there is more space on the road to run fast and reliable bus services, as well as to make improvements to walking and cycling facilities and to public spaces.

There are two main ways to free up road space and raise money to invest in better bus services and more cycling and walking infrastructure – a road charging zone, or additional parking charges.

• A road charging zone would charge vehicles for driving within a set area. There are two main forms of road charging that would lower traffic levels, reduce pollution and raise money to invest in transport improvements – a pollution charge and a flexible charge.
• Additional parking charges could include applying higher charges to existing car parking and introducing a Workplace Parking Levy (WPL). A WPL is a yearly fee charged to organisations per parking space at their premises. Organisations can choose whether to pass on the cost of the charge to employees, reduce/remove their parking spaces or absorb the cost themselves.

These charges could also be used in combination with each other. Find out more about these types of charge in the consultation brochure.

No decisions have been made at this stage about the type of charge or how it would work – we are seeking your feedback on the options. 

The GCP will consider feedback and there will be a further public consultation on any specific options next year.

No decisions have been made yet about the location of any charging zone, or the type of charging that will be implemented.  We want to understand your views on the different options and principles.  GCP will then consider feedback and there will be a further consultation on any specific options next year.

Encouraging people to use their car less when travelling within or into the city will impact on different people in different ways and we want to hear from people about what those effects might be. The impact on some people will be more pronounced than on others, and we will need to consider how measures can help to mitigate that. Other places have considered specific support for some groups to help them adapt to a charge. This has included things like discounted public transport fares, support to move to using cleaner vehicles, as well as phasing in charges for some groups.

No decisions have been made and we want to hear your views on this.