06 BUS RAPID TRANSITSUPPLEMENT


extremely busy, with standing passengers the norm at peak times. The business case assumed that it would


take three years for patronage to build up to the forecasted 11,400 journeys per day, with patronage in the first year only 50% of forecast, which equates to 148,000 trips per month. Passenger journeys in the first two months have totalled 433,583, which is 46% greater than forecast. What next for the Busway? The immediate


issue is coping with the demand from passengers and both operators are looking at obtaining more buses to further increase frequencies. Extending Busway services to additional towns and villages is also under discussion including the possibility of services running from Peterborough. After a hiatus caused by the economic situation work on developments along the southern section is now in full swing, while a planning application is about to be submitted for the first phase of Northstowe. Plans are also moving forward for a new railway station on the north side of Cambridge at the Chesterton sidings, a short extension to the Busway will link the northern section directly to the national rail network and in particular fast trains to London.


Passengers alight from a B service at St Ives


» Stagecoach have spent more than £3 million on new


state-of-the-art vehicles to operate on the busway «


by funds from the Government’s Housing Growth Fund and sustainable transport charity Sustrans. The maintenance track is already proving to be extremely popular with cyclists in particular, but is also used by horse riders, walkers, runners and roller-bladers. As with any new and innovative scheme


there has been a degree of scepticism about the Busway, particularly among what might be termed the chattering classes of Cambridge. Any doubts about the scheme vanished overnight with the opening. The plan was to open on a Sunday when it would be fairly quiet before the Monday rush. The public had other


Eurotransport Volume 9, Issue 6, 2011


ideas and buses had to be run in duplicate and triplicate to cope with demand on the first day. This wasn’t just a one off as Sundays have proved to be popular days. Both operators have now incorporated increased Sunday frequencies into their timetables. Buses were well used at peak times from the


start but with the end of the holiday period at the beginning of September peak time use has soared. Stagecoach introduced additional peak time services on 4 September 2011 in anticipation of this but it has not proved to be enough and further peak hour services were introduced on 23 October 2011. This included two additional A services which run with only one stop between Huntingdon and St Ives before joining the Busway, knocking 13 minutes off the journey time. Despite, or perhaps because of, these extra services buses are still


Bob Menzies has worked for Cambridgeshire County Council since 1988. From 1996 Bob led the group delivering road safety and traffic management measures, including traffic signals, traffic calming, park and ride, bus priorities, safety cameras, decriminalised parking enforcement and the successful implementation of the Cambridge Core Scheme, which uses rising bollards to restrict through traffic in Cambridge City Centre to buses, taxis and cyclists. Bob first became involved in the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway in 2001 looking at the on-street elements of the scheme and the interfaces with the public highway. Realising the potential of the Busway, Bob volunteered to take on the delivery of the project. This led to his developing the operating and procurement strategies for the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway. Following completion of the Public Inquiry in December 2004, Bob has led the team delivering the Busway which opened in August 2011.


Chris Poultney has been working on the Busway since 2006. His responsibilities have been the project management of the comm - issioning and operation of the Busway. This has covered a wide range of disciplines, included leading on the development and implementation of the smartcard scheme, delivering the ticketing system, various civils works, working through the various legal agreements with the operators, and co-ordinating and managing the commissioning period in the build-up to the start of passenger services.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14