The County Council will soon be able to apply to take over enforcement of road traffic offences currently rarely enforced by the police.
Category - Roads
Vision Zero: let’s make it a reality
To many, reducing speed limits seems perverse. But the reduced grief and pain, and increased freedom for our children, is more than worth it.
Maintaining our roads and pavements
A topic that fills many councillors’ inboxes is the dire state of our roads and pavements. But funding runs far short of what is needed to fix them.
Edward LeighHow ‘safety’ barriers can be discriminatory and unsafe
When a road junction proves to be dangerous, the council doesn’t install barriers; it remodels it. Why not do the same for unsafe footways and cycleways?
Should yours be a Low Traffic Neighbourhood?
A Low Traffic Neighbourhood is a residential area without through-traffic. It needs to be part of a wider set of changes to benefit everyone.
The right way to reduce delays to Cambourne buses?
An independent audit is underway of the Cambourne to Cambridge busway. Can we now hope for sense to prevail?
Electric cars in bus lanes: a good idea?
The small incentive this idea will create to buy EVs is more than offset by the negative impacts on buses and cycling.
How do variable speed limits reduce congestion?
If people maintain reasonably safe headways, a motorway can carry about 15% more vehicles per hour at 40mph than at 70mph.
Bigger lorries coming down the road
A consultation is looking at allowing articulated lorries some 2 metres longer than at present, as well as permitting 48-tonne lorries.
What’s the traffic like in Cambridge?
If the still-upward trend in car traffic continues, evening peaks are likely to become increasingly congested.
Making the Highway Code safer for people
The Highway Code is up for revision with a view to reinforcing the rights and protections of people walking, cycling or riding a horse.
Reimagining our highways
Communities are starting to reimagine their streets. Start a conversation with neighbours and ask your councillors to help make it a reality.
Responding to the A10 (Cambridge–Ely) upgrade proposals
We urged you to respond to the Combined Authority consultation on the A10 upgrade (Ely to Cambridge) before it closed on Tuesday 14th July 2020.
A revolution in transport is afoot
When we see the government reallocate the new-roads budget to public transport we will know it is seriously committed to restoring the environment.
How can we make more space for walking and cycling?
The County Council has been slow off the mark, recently stating that officers are still looking at data and talking with their maintenance contractor.
Transport project cost overruns will affect us all
The Fendon Road roundabout redesign has escalated from £0.8m to £1.8m – where is the extra £1m going to come from?
Could you save money and carbon by car-sharing your commute?
How do we help more people to do this? And how much difference could it make?
Car clubs: a cost-effective alternative to owning a car for occasional use
Consider whether replacing a car with car club membership could save you money!
What have we learned from the closure of Mill Road bridge during the summer?
Have traffic flows reverted to how they were before the summer? Interestingly, not everywhere.
Does building more roads reduce congestion? No, and here’s why.
For now, we have no choice but to reduce our energy consumption by travelling less and, instead of driving, using more energy-efficient transport modes
Where did the Mill Road traffic go?
It is difficult to draw firm conclusions even from a rich data set like this
Why Government Policies Are Required To Cope With The Coming Transport Revolution
A set of 20 aims and principles which governments, local authorities and urban planners might find useful in coping with the introduction of self-driving vehicles and other transport technology developments.
Will closing Mill Road create mayhem or show us the future of low-car living?
Let’s learn from Mill Road closure, and use it as a template for running experimental closures elsewhere in the city.
Who’s afraid of a zebra? Pedestrian-friendly streets just need some paint
We can add zebra crossings at side road junctions easily. Manchester is already leading the way on this.
Cambridge Station plans for 2019 sure to upset everyone
For the large majority of people who access the station on foot, the proposed changes will significantly worsen their experience.
Our Cambridge South West Park & Ride consultation response
Why Smarter Cambridge Transport does not support any of the proposed options for expansion of Trumpington P&R or building a second site at Hauxton.
Why an 80mph speed limit turns out to be bad for us all
It's a popular fallacy that increasing motorway speed limits would help drivers get to their destination more quickly
A pollution-free future coming down the road
Pollution causes about 40,000 deaths per year in the UK, but a century-old technology is coming to the rescue.
Sequencing is critical
Why increasing road capacity with more lanes just buys time ...and worse, the business case for the sustainable stuff evaporates
Why is Hills Road falling to pieces?
It's a question which can be asked about many roads, but in this case the reason may be history as much as any lack of care by the County Council.
Why a £13m overspend in Ely matters
The Ely Southern Bypass is £21m over its original budget. We should be extremely wary of funding large infrastructure projects from council borrowing not covered by new income streams.
Response to Cambridge South East Transport Study (A1307) Consultation 2018
The full response to the consultation: why Smarter Cambridge Transport supports most of the short-term measures proposed (some with modifications), but does not support any of the three long-term strategies proposed.
Response to the Consultation on Proposals for the Creation of a Major Road Network
The response submitted by Smarter Cambridge Transport.
Response to ‘Cambourne to Cambridge’ consultation
Rather than building extensive new road capacity for buses, we need to make better use of existing road capacity, build travel hubs and re-route bus services, and create safe and convenient cycle and pedestrian routes...
The elephants in the room: HGVs
Investing in new road capacity is expensive, environmentally damaging, and usually only a temporary solution. A distance-based HGV levy plus more investment in railways would achieve a much better outcome.
6 Things To Know About Self-Driving Cars
Most people - and governments - are barely considering the implications of this revolution, but we should be. This is all going to happen much sooner than most of us think.
Should HGVs pay their way in the city?
A charge which would remain affordable to HGV operators could deter unnecessary peak-time movements and raise a substantial amount of money from others.
Response to SPD for land north of Cherry Hinton
With these additions to the SPD this development could radically transform the connectivity and quality of life in Cherry Hinton, Teversham and Fulbourn.
Let Cherry Hinton set an example
The ‘spine’ of the new airport development should be a green corridor, ideal for walking and cycling, and it must be available from day one.
Making our Rural Roads Safer
Much has been discussed about major upgrades for busy rural roads. But we need to reduce crashes, save lives, and make rural travel safer for those in cars, on cycles, on horses and by foot on the 99% of rural roads...
Garbage in means garbage out
Long ago when I worked in traffic research, I spent many days on cold street corners, counting traffic at junctions. I saw the first use of transponders on buses to ‘advance’ a green phase at traffic lights over 40...
‘Tried and tested’ please
We’ve been hearing a lot recently about an ‘Advanced Very Rapid Transit’ system for the Greater Cambridge area using ‘bullet buses’ travelling at up to 120mph. The City Deal press release used the words ‘cutting-edge’...
Do I have to take a taxi from the station?
If we want to make Cambridge railway station less car dependent, what more could we do to promote walking, cycling and bus travel? Many visitors arriving at the station take a taxi simply because other options are...
Saving the Green Belt with sustainable transport
Green belt land has two purposes: preserving countryside for future generations, and preventing urban sprawl. Unfortunately our green belt protection policies are failing to prevent sprawl, and endangering the...
A lesson from Plymouth
In the excellent Urban Transport Without The Hot Air by Steve Melia, there’s a study that has important implications for Cambridge and Cambourne. Ivybridge is a small town in Devon, just under 10 miles from Plymouth...
We need to talk about ‘consultation’
It’s time to change the way ‘consultation’ works (or doesn’t). Currently, residents might learn about a council project for the first time from an invitation to a ‘briefing’. Those who have time and inclination to...
Invest in rail, not dualling the A10
The argument for dualling the A10 from Ely is that it requires more capacity to cope with population growth; that slow commute times put fewer jobs within commuting distance and reduce economic productivity (though, for...
Building more road capacity is futile
As long ago as 1924 it was realised that building new roads attracts additional traffic. In 1994 the Government Standing Advisory Committee on Trunk Road Assessment confirmed this in a landmark report, which led to the...
What is ‘Inbound Flow Control’?
You will know that the City Deal has plans (“but no decisions have been made yet”) to build a busway from Cambourne to Cambridge, to add more bus lanes to Milton Road, and to build a bus lane on Histon Rd between King’s...
Submission to National Infrastructure Assessment Call for Evidence 2017/18
The National Infrastructure Commission called for evidence in 2016/17 for its National Infrastructure Assessment. We submitted a response to Transport Q15: What are the highest value transport investments that can be...
How many cars do you think drive into Cambridge most weekdays?
A quiz for you: how many cars do you think drive into Cambridge most weekdays? What proportion are looking to park on the streets for free? If we incentivised people not to do this, would it make a difference? We now...
Delivery Hubs for smarter goods distribution
Sometimes we don’t appreciate what a great example Santa Claus sets. All those presents from his toymakers are gathered together at a single distribution centre. Elves group the deliveries by chimney, and these...
Air pollution: killing 40,000 people across the UK every year
Did you know that air pollution kills an estimated 40,000 people across the UK every year? That compares with 1,800 road deaths. In October nine Royal Colleges of Medicine launched the Breath of Fresh Air initiative...
Reducing Traffic Congestion and Pollution in Urban Areas
Ideas for reducing congestion and pollution in urban areas, developed in the context of the Greater Cambridge area, typical of many UK towns and cities.
Who will ensure that excellent design is at the heart of new developments?
The recently formed National Infrastructure Commission has published its report on the Cambridge–Milton Keynes–Oxford corridor. It identifies a chronic shortage of housing as the greatest risk to growth. Unsurprisingly...
A14 Girton Interchange (archived page)
How Highways England's improvements to the A14 Girton Interchange should provide new connections between the A428 and M11, and a new Park & Ride.
Response to Cambourne to Cambridge busway proposal
Further to our response to the public consultation, we have prepared seventeen key questions for the City Deal Executive Board to answer in relation to its decision on 13 October 2016 to progress a proposal to build a...
Cambourne to Cambridge busway
The City Deal is proposing spending a £142m on a new road for buses from Cambourne to Cambridge. That might seem like a good idea, especially if you live in Cambourne, Highfields Caldecote or Hardwick and commute into...
Show your support for new neighbourhood parking schemes
We will be presenting our petition, which gained 1,317 signatures from all city wards, to the Highways and Community Infrastructure Committee when it meets on 14 March 2017 to consider an updated Residents’ Parking...
Response to Milton Rd and Histon Rd consultations 2015/16
Next key date: 20 March 2019. The Executive Board will be considering final outline designs for Milton Road before proceeding to detailed designs and building in 2020–21. The Assembly meets on 27 February to pre...
Localism and the strategic transport network
There is an urgent need for localism to include Highways England and the rail industry. The inability of local authorities to include strategic highways and railways in their short and medium term transport planning is...
Can we do better than bus lanes?
The County Council’s view ‘Bus priority’ has come to be used interchangeably with ‘bus lane’ or ‘busway’: the Cambridgeshire Long Term Transport Strategy (November 2014) refers to, “On-line or off-line bus priority...
Inbound Flow Control
What is Inbound Flow Control? Inbound Flow Control is a powerful technique for reducing congestion. Traffic lights on the edge of the city release vehicles only as fast as the road ahead can carry them. By restricting...
Smart Traffic Management
How Smart Traffic Management and Smart Traffic Lights regulate the flow of traffic through the city in response to demand.