Greater Cambridge Partnership board to decide on city transport plans and road charging

A decision is set to be made over whether to progress with plans for a package of public transport improvements in Cambridge and how they might be funded.

The plans include a future bus network that envisages a bus every 10 minutes in Cambridge between 5am and midnight, and from larger towns and villages – plus a new hourly service from rural areas.

Lower bus fares and a comprehensive walking and cycling network that would provide flexible travel options are also among the proposals.

The Greater Cambridge Partnership’s Public Transport Improvements and City Access Strategy also suggests modal filters, a clean air zone, measures to reduce on and off-street parking, higher parking fees, and a pollution or congestion charge all on the table.

The GCP’s executive board will meet tomorrow (Thursday, September 30) to decide whether to press ahead with the plans and put them out to public consultation this autumn.

The plans have already been given the backing of the GCP’s joint assembly and the transport body has been urged to “be brave, be bold and take action”.

However, the joint assembly warned of “consultation inertia” and said it must be “fresh and compelling” to encourage the public to respond.

They said it was “imperative” that the public be made aware that public transport improvements do come at a cost, the consequence of which could be a congestion charge.

Joint assembly chairman Tim Bick, the Lib Dem opposition leader on Cambridge City Council, said earlier this month: “We do need to help them understand that really with one comes the other, and vice versa.”

The executive board will also be asked to support the recommendations to make permanent six experimental road closures in Cambridge which were implemented during the pandemic.

Update: Read about the GCP’s decision at the meeting here

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Buses proposed every 10 minutes in Cambridge – paid for by city congestion charge