GCP chief executive: ‘Why Greater Cambridge urgently needs a world-class transport network’

Opinion: Rachel Stopard, chief executive of the Greater Cambridge Partnership, writes for the Cambridge Independent on its proposals to impose a £5 road user charge to pay for a revamped bus network with £1 flat fares within the city, and £2 flat fares from outside. Read more about the proposals here.

I am one of many who has come to Cambridge and fallen in love with it. Who wouldn’t?

As much as I love working here, I have a strong sense that we could make it a truly sustainable, accessible and people-centric place to be. Having seen my frail elderly father try to walk on congested streets shows there is insufficient space for those with additional needs. For cyclists and pedestrians, the queues of cars heading in and out of the city aren’t pleasant to pass by because of the noise, emissions and safety challenges.

And what about commuters? Often, they are forced into driving to work due to a lack of reliable public transport provisions where they live. Just this week, I heard about a young woman who couldn’t get to a job opportunity because of this issue; and I regularly hear about GCSE students making A-level choices based on where they can travel to for their studies rather than following their ambitions.

A view I share with many of you is that we can transform our city and the Greater Cambridge area into a place where we can all move about safely, breathe clean air, and have more space to ‘just be’.

Imagine if we could take half the cars off the roads in Cambridge to allow space for a London-style transport system that is fast, frequent and reliable, alongside a better public realm served by safe walking and cycling links?

As people know, the conversation about how to make transport in Greater Cambridge fit for the needs of our area has been going on for years. A clear message is that regular buses need to run for longer hours, so they become an option for shift workers, those needing to stay late in the office, people working in hospitality, or for those working early and late.

Our package of proposals includes:

• extending bus services from 5am until 1am, also enabling people to explore and enjoy the many great bars, restaurants and entertainment spots without needing to worry about how they get home safely, and
• introducing a £1 flat rate bus fare in the city and £2 per journey in the travel to work area, with a tap on/tap off system to make it cheaper and easier to travel by bus than it is to fill up your car at the pump, drive and park.

This package, one of the largest ever investments in a UK bus network, would also double the size of the pre-Covid bus network, providing faster, cleaner, and more frequent services to more locations – including a huge increase in rural coverage.

As the cost-of-living crisis and climate emergency continue to bite we need to remove the need for people to have to choose between affordability, reliability and saving the planet.

There were 121 deaths attributable to poor air quality in Greater Cambridge in 2020 alone.

Again, imagine if we could free up the road space to run reliable bus services, create dedicated cycle and walking routes, and help us all breathe cleaner air?

There is no silver bullet to fix this. The type of bus network we need will require huge amounts of public funding to sustain it so the services can run regardless of whether they are commercially viable. That is why, building on extensive public feedback, we are proposing to introduce a Sustainable Travel Zone with a road user charge to fund the improvements and encourage people out of their cars. If approved, it would mean by 2028 all vehicles, unless exempt, driving in the zone between 7am and 7pm on weekdays would pay a £5 daily charge.

Our commitment is that improvements will come first: we will take the time between now and then to transform bus services, subsidise fares and make it simple for people to start to change the way they travel.

Clearly, there are some people who do need to drive for legitimate reasons. To that end, we are proposing a package of exemptions and discounts to support people on lower incomes or whose personal circumstances may limit their ability to use public transport, such as blue badge holders and people with regular hospital appointments.

None of this is easy or without pain for all of us. Up until now, there has been little alternative for people to leave their cars behind despite their desire to help reduce carbon emissions and congestion on the roads. A better option is within our reach.

We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to truly transform the way we travel. We are asking the political leaders in our region to agree to put these proposals to consultation so that we may hear the community’s views on how we can create a better, cleaner, safer city region so we can all share the benefits of what Greater Cambridge has to offer.