People and Place case study
Cambridgeshire Guided Busway
When to use this case study:
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Changing services in an MEDC
Impact of changing services on people and environment
Planning issues
Overview
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Cambridge is a city of approximately 125,000 people. It is in East Anglia. The local roads are
congested under the pressure of growing numbers of vehicles. A substantial number of people
commute to Cambridge every day to work.
The A14 is one of the most congested roads in the country.
A guided busway is in the process of being built. It will link the city with the market towns of
Huntingdon and St Ives (to the north-west of Cambridge). The terminal at Addenbrookes
Hospital will link to the M11 motorway to the south.
A guided busway is a dedicated track just for buses to drive on. Any bus can use a guided
busway as long as it has two small extra wheels (guide wheels) attached in front of its regular
wheels. These guide wheels then connect with the busway track.
Guided buses will travel on both newly built guideways and also on ordinary roads.
The guideway is being built along the route of the old St Ives to Cambridge railway track and
from Cambridge railway station to Addenbrooke's Hospital and Trumpington Park & Ride.
The scheme is the largest in the world and will cost approximately £120 million.
Why is the busway guided rather than a bus-only road?
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A guideway requires less land than a normal road. Buses travelling in opposite directions can
pass very close together. Therefore the total width of the guideway is less than a standard
road. This means less money is spent on land purchase.
A guideway is better in terms of drainage than a solid tarmac road, as water can drain away
between the guideway beams.
A bus only road would need to have stringent measures to stop other vehicles travelling on it.
The guideway will be unsuitable for other vehicles.
The smoothness of guideway provides higher ride quality for passengers and a greater ability
for level boarding.
What effect will the busway have on different groups of people?
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People have been employed in the construction of the guided busway. There will be jobs on
the buses and at the terminals and in the maintenance of the buses and tracks.
It is hoped that people will use the guided busway instead of driving into Cambridge. This
should reduce the congestion in the city and reduce journey times (estimated to be
approximately 30 minutes from St Ives to Cambridge). This will improve quality of life for people
living and working in Cambridge.
Predictions are that the busy A14 trunk road will have 10% less traffic on it once the busway
opens. This will reduce congestion and journey times, and should also reduce accidents. This
means that there will be less call on the emergency services.
A new town (10,000 homes) is being built at Northstowe near Longstanton. The guided busway
will link Northstowe to Cambridge. It also links new development at Arbury Park to the north of
Cambridge with the city centre and Addenbrookes Hospital.
A new bridleway will be built next to the track – good for walking, cycling and horse riding.
It should make it easier for people from Huntingdon and St Ives to travel to the Hills Road and
Long Road Sixth Form Colleges and CRC.
The government has recently approved a plan to turn
Chesterton sidings into a railway station for the north of the city.
If the council manages to get funding for this, a short section of
guideway would be built to connect the new station to the St
Ives to Cambridge busway. This would give a direct connection
to the rail network.
Services will operate from 6am-midnight - giving people
flexibility over their travel arrangements.
Some compulsory purchase orders have been placed on
buildings at the side of the track. People have lost their homes.
People living in the city probably won’t see much change – the
guided buses will not stop at bus stops within the city, so the
service level for city residents will not be improved.
What about the impact on the environment?
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Reduction in traffic along the A14 should reduce pollution. Carbon emissions should reduce.
The track is narrower than a standard road, so there is less environmental impact.
As mentioned above, a guideway is better in terms of drainage than a solid tarmac road as
water can drain away between the beams.
16 new wildlife habitats will be established in response to environmental criticisms of the
project. They will provide a suitable home for the grizzled skipper butterfly found along the
disused railway.
This all sounds good. Are there any objections?
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A public inquiry into the plans for the project attracted more than 3000 letters, of which 2735
were objections. This is one of the largest number of objections ever recorded for a Transport
and Works Act order! The objectors included many of the local councils. Objections covered
the Environmental Impact Assessment, support for a railway alternative, and objections to the
scheme in principle.
The cost-benefit ratio was originally assessed at 4.84, but this has now fallen to 1.968 as the
costs have more than doubled from an initial estimate of £54 million.
There is great concern that the shortfall in funding will have to be met by the taxpayer. The
opportunity cost needs to be considered.
Cast.Iron (a rail group) have argued that the guided busway offers only a local
solution to a regional problem. They also state that the scheme is back-to-front
– it is guided through open countryside but back on already congested roads in
the city centre. They have renamed the scheme as the ‘misguided busway’.