Agenda item - City Access Strategy

To consider the attached report.

The Executive Board AGREED unanimously to:

a) Note the updates;

b) Note the feasibility studies and receive further reports in September on the findings and recommendations in respect of:

i. Use of Electric/ Hybrid buses; and

ii. A review of the Cambridge Traffic Signal network;

c) Agree to carry out further consultation and engagement with residents and the business community in both Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire on their transport needs and issues, as part of a wider ‘Travel Diary’ exercise, to help understand existing travel patterns, issues and incentives to change; including working with businesses to understand needs of employees from travel to work areas outside of the Greater Cambridge area; and

i. To determine local transport priorities that could receive funding were a Workplace Parking Levy (WPL) to be introduced, building on employers’ evidence of transport needs and in coordination with the Greater Cambridge Partnership;

ii. To coordinate with and, if feasible, form part of the GCP and the Local Enterprise Partnership’s broader engagement with the business community;

iii. To develop and provide practical support for employers and schools looking to manage their parking demand and provision working closely with Travel for Cambridge;

and report back the findings to a future meeting of the Board; and

d) Agree that the Director of Transport continues to negotiate a potential funding contribution for a Rural Hub Park and Ride service to be located at the soon-to-be-closed Papworth Hospital serving the Cambridge Biomedical Campus; and that a report be brought back to the next meeting.

The Executive Board considered a report which detailed progress and direction of travel with the City Access Strategy which aimed to reduce traffic flows through the City with the provision of more sustainable alternatives.

In introducing the recommendations the Interim Transport Director referred to the results of the Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) survey which were imminent. It was unfortunate that they had not been available in time for inclusion in this report. He confirmed that they would be included in the September Executive Board report. He clarified that the cameras recognised number plates and could contact the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVL) who would identify vehicle type. He emphasised that DVL would not identify who the vehicle belonged to, which he acknowledged had been a matter of some concern for residents. The survey identified where vehicles had come from and where they went, which would help inform work on City access and demand management.

The Interim Transport Director also outlined plans to send a Travel Diary questionnaire to all properties within the Greater Cambridge area. This would seek views on current travel, what people would like to do and what was stopping them from doing this. Responses would enrich current information by including details of what people would like the opportunity to do. From late September/October a number of consultation exercises in Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire to allow people to come forward and explain their issues and frustrations.

The Chairperson reported that the Joint Assembly had supported these proposals.

The Executive Board was invited to consider and comment on the proposals and the response to questions of clarification and main points of discussion are summarised below:

The Chairperson drew attention to the significant amount of good work that was being done in response to the Strategy.

In response to a question from the Chairperson, it was confirmed that the data from the ANPR study would be widely available in graphical, easily understood formats. It was hoped to make the raw date available for others to use.

Councillor Bates asked if the ANPR date would include school journeys. In response the Interim Traffic Director confirmed that the exercise was done at the beginning of June so this would be the case. The ANPR survey would not be able to identify specifically school journeys, although routes may indicate potential journeys to schools. The travel diary data would help with this.

With reference to paragraph 11 on page 185 of the agenda pack, Professor Allmendinger asked what baseline was used when measuring reductions in traffic flows. In response, the Interim Transport Director explained that the baseline was based on measurements taken in 2011. The aim was to reduce traffic flows, including any increases over the interim period up to 2031 by 10-15%.

In response to a question on Workplace Parking Levy (WPL), the Interim Transport Director reported a lot of work had been done to look at Nottingham, which was the only place that had adopted WPL. They were very clear that for Nottingham WPL was not about reducing demand but raising revenue to support its travel network. Detailed work on this had been deferred pending receipt of detailed information from the ANPR, Travel Diary date and feedback from the Autumn consultation exercise. The Chairperson confirmed that he was on record as supporting WPL as a means of securing revenue to support transport initiatives.

The Chairperson drew attention to the Electric Hybrid Bus Feasibility Study [page 193 of the agenda pack] and asked how this would progress. In response, the Interim Transport Director confirmed that a detailed report and recommendations would be brought to a future Executive Board meeting, hopefully in September. This would need to consider hybrid and electric options. There were some issues with electric busses, particularly range and limited suppliers of double decker electric busses. However the Government had announced recently an additional £290m to support the development of battery technology. It had also announced that by 2040 there would be no combustible engines. He added that there was a problem with the ability to tap into the existing electrical network in Cambridge which may require reinforcing, but a number of other options were being investigated, such as creating solar farms at some of the park and ride sites.

Councillor Herbert hoped that further work could be done to progress the Clean Air Zone approved in January and to tackle poor air quality in the City. Following the Government’s announcement, there was potential to seek to get Cambridge as one of the lead cities and Councillor Herbert had written the then Secretary of State about this. He had not yet received a reply but would follow this up. Councillor Bates supported this and drew attention to the very clear evidence about air quality and links to premature deaths. The Chairperson agreed and drew attention to the fact that the new Smart City App would tell everyone how bad the air quality was.

In response to a question about on street parking controls, the Interim Transport Director explained that the County Council was concerned about displacement. An analysis of the potential impact of the proposed resident parking schemes was undertaken and Appendix C [page 203 of the agenda pack] explained the results of this work. It had been concluded that further analysis was required and the outcome would be reported to the Executive Board and the County Council’s Highways and Infrastructure Committee in September.

The Chairperson drew attention to the Traffic Signals Review, in particular information on the number of traffic signals in Cambridge, with 52 of the 82 junctions in the City having been installed in their current format for over ten years. The Interim Transport Director confirmed that a full review of the network would be undertaken to determine where upgrading was needed and make operation of the network as efficient as possible. In response to a question from Councillor Bates, it was confirmed the study would incorporate signals on the outskirts of Cambridge. The timing of this work had yet to be confirmed but it was hoped the outcome would be reported to the Executive Board early in the New Year.

With reference to Rural Transport Hubs, the Executive Board noted plans to address increase travel demand to the already busy CBC site following the transfer of 1,800 staff from Papworth. The University of Cambridge and CBC had commissioned a West of Cambridge to CBC bus service feasibility study, attached as Appendix D [page 205 of the agenda pack]. The possibility of retaining 200 parking spaces on the Papworth site was being investigated. This would operate as a Rural Hub Park and Ride Site, serviced by a timetabled shuttle bus serving the CBC site. This would be a registered service, able to pick other people up. Initial estimates were that such a service would require revenue support in the region of £100,000 per annum over a three year period. The Chairperson explained that this was exactly the type of thing a WPL could fund.

In response to a question, the Interim Transport Director explained that City Access was currently looking at ways of accelerating the delivery of the Nine Wells cycle path, which came off the A1307 and into the CBC site. Section 106 funding was triggered by a certain number of properties being developed on the site. Officers were looking at the possibility of providing up front funding for this pending the availability of Section 106 monies, but discussions were at an early stage.