BUS RAPID TRANSITSUPPLEMENT 03
pressures. The strategy rests on encouraging the use of alternatives to car use. The key elements of the strategy are traffic restraint in the city centre, improvements to pedestrian and cycle routes, parking policies which discourage long stay parking, bus priority measures and a comprehensive and very successful Park and Ride system. The success of Park and Ride has demonstrated that with the right approach seasoned car users can be persuaded onto a bus based transport system. However, car users needed to be persuaded onto public transport much earlier in their journeys than the outskirts of Cambridge, especially on the heavily congested A14 corridor, which links the towns of Huntingdon and St Ives with Cambridge. The final driver was the A14 trunk road, as
well as its local role it has a national and international strategic role. As the A14 passes through Cambridgeshire it not only carries East-West traffic between the east coast ports and the Midlands, but it also carries North-South traffic as it links the A1 and M11. The County Council successfully persuaded the then Government in 2000 to make the A14 between Cambridge and Huntingdon the first of its multi-modal studies. The study concluded in 2001 with three recommendations: the upgrade
of the A14, further demand management measures in Cambridge, and the provision of the guided busway. The scheme went through a long process of evaluation, refinement, consultation and scrutiny before a public inquiry in 2004. Powers to build the scheme were secured in 2005 and the main construction contract was let to BAM Nuttall in summer 2006. Revitalising two disused
» The Busway provides a reliable, fast and frequent service and is a genuine public transport alternative to the notoriously congested A14 dual carriageway «
railway corridors, the scheme includes two new Park and Ride sites and nine stops on the Busway, with additional dedicated stops in the centre of Cambridge. The Busway is in two separate sections.
The longer section links St Ives and Cambridge, passing the site of the planned new town of Northstowe en route and delivering passengers directly to both Cambridge Regional College and Cambridge Science Park. This section of the Busway also includes a branch serving the new Orchard Park development on the northern fringe of Cambridge. As a result of this split,
Busway users have a choice of two routes into the centre of Cambridge, increasing the number of destinations served. The shorter southern section of the Busway
starts at Cambridge Railway Station, which is to the south of the City Centre and extends to the existing Trumpington Park and Ride site on the southern edge of Cambridge adjacent to the M11. This section includes a link to take the Busway into the centre of Addenbrooke’s Hospital and serves key development sites in the southern fringe of the City. Single decker buses are used on the southern section as there are several old railway bridges with limited headroom. The buses are steered along the guideway
by small horizontal guidewheels that run along the 180mm high kerbs of the pre-cast concrete track. Each track section is 15m long, weighs over 30 tonnes, and was moved and placed using specially made equipment. BAM Nuttall have succeeded in producing the guideway track to a demanding tolerance specification, which allows smooth running and high operating speeds. As only vehicles fitted with guidewheels can use the route, the guideway provides exclusive public transport priority as well as significant benefits in ride quality and
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