BUS RAPID TRANSITSUPPLEMENT 05


Busway in Cambridge. Traffic is stopped for around 20 seconds while the buses cross resulting in minimal delays to traffic even at peak times with buses now running at 5 minute frequencies. The budget for delivery of the Busway was £116.2 million of which the construction costs were £87 million; the balance being made up of land costs, design, supervision, management and contingencies. Funding has come in the form of £92.5 million in central government grant, with the remainder being provided through developers along the route. While Cambridgeshire have built and now manage the Busway, the bus services are operated commercially by two bus companies, Stagecoach, who operate the majority of services in Cambridgeshire, and Whippet, a local family run operator. Both companies have signed up to a five year minimum service agreement and a 10 year quality partnership. The bus operators meet the operational and maintenance costs of the Busway through access charges. The bus operators therefore take all the operational risks of the Busway. Stagecoach have spent more than £3 million on new state-of-the-art vehicles to operate on the busway. The new fleet of 23 vehicles run on 100% biofuel produced from sustainable resources and consist of 10 Eclipse/B7RLE single-decker buses, manufactured by Northern-Ireland-based Wrightbus and Volvo, and 13 Alexander Dennis Enviro 400/Scania N230UD double-deckers. All of the new specially-branded vehicles are equipped with leather seats, air chill or air conditioning, real-time information, and Wi-Fi to enable passengers to access email and the web on the move. The buses produce up to 80% less carbon emissions than vehicles using conventional diesel. Single-deck vehicles meet Euro 5 emissions standards, while the double- deckers feature Euro 4 engines. Stagecoach operate two routes: Service A


runs from St Ives Park and Ride via the Science Park through the centre of Cambridge to Trumpington via Cambridge Railway station and Addenbrooke’s Hospital and service B which runs on street between Huntingdon and St Ives before joining the Busway to travel via Orchard Park to terminate in the centre of Cambridge. Service A is operated with single-deckers and Service B with double-deckers. Whippet have purchased a smaller number of single-deck vehicles from Volvo and


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Plaxton, to operate to the Euro 5 emission standard and include air chill. These operate from St Ives to Cambridge with some services starting or finishing at the village of Somersham to the north east of St Ives, demonstrating the flexibility of bus rapid transit to serve multiple origins and destinations from a single trunk corridor. From St Ives, buses run at least every


10 minutes from 7am to 7pm Monday to Saturday, with less frequent services in the


the County Council has worked with the bus operators to deliver multi-operator ticketing and smartcards. These features complement the quality of the guideway and the vehicles. Dedicated guided bus stops have also been


delivered in the centre of Cambridge as part of a wider programme of bus stop improvements. The improvements provide raised kerbs for guided buses to dock against to give level boarding, modern shelters and real-time information. This also allows for future


The buses are steered along the guideway by small horizontal guidewheels that run along the high-kerbs of the pre-cast concrete track


evenings until midnight and on Sundays. A journey from St Ives to the Cambridge Science Park takes just 20 minutes compared to unpredictable car journey times caused by severe congestion on the A14. There is a real emphasis on quality


throughout the scheme to deliver a true Bus Rapid Transit experience for passengers. This includes the provision of ticket machines, high quality shelters, CCTV, public art, cycle parking and level boarding at stops on the guideway. Real-time information is enhanced by the addition of the innovative IBIS unit, and


expansion of services by separating from ‘conventional’ buses. It is hoped that this programme can be extended on the section between Huntingdon and St Ives when further funding becomes available. It is not only bus passengers that have


benefited from the Busway, the maintenance track that runs along the whole length of the Busway is also a bridleway and cycleway. In a change to the original plans, the Council have recently completed the addition of a sealed blacktop surface to the entire length of the maintenance track. This has been made possible


Eurotransport Volume 9, Issue 6, 2011


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