Preliminary ‘big data’ from an eight-day study of millions of vehicle movements traveling in Cambridge has been published by the Greater Cambridge Partnership (GCP) this week. The traffic survey using Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras undertook across the Cambridge area from 10 - 17 June 2017. The survey captured information on vehicle movements in, out and through the city. Some of the initial findings include:

• Over five million vehicle journeys were captured in a single week;
• Over 56% of the cars recorded were diesel and contributing to the city’s pollution levels; and
• The overall breakdown of vehicles on Cambridge’s roads across the survey week includes approximately 86% cars and 12% vans/lorries.

The initial data has been published on Cambridgeshire Insight

The GCP has a number of upcoming events on tackling some of the city’s transport issues in November, including a Wayfinding Hackathon on 25th. workshop for staff and visitors to Addenbrooke’s Hospital on 28th, followed by a Cambridge Network Future Transport Event on 30th. Find out more about the GCP’s upcoming events

Peter’s Pedal are offering a 10% discount until 24th December on electric bikes which now cost £625. For more information on these e-bikes, please contact Sean Moroney via email: seanm@cambridgeelectrictransport.co.uk at Cambridge Electric Transport Company.

Crazy Spanners (a mobile bike repairs) also have a display model which you can view on Tuesday and Thursday located behind the Innovation Centre (Unit 23) rear car park, Cambridge Science Park.

The 2017 Annual Travel to Work Survey ran from Sunday 7th October to Friday 13th October, collecting data on employees commuting methods over a one week period. This year 73 organisations within the Science Park and Business Park took part in the survey, resulting in 2,634 valid responses!  The data is being analysed and the overall report for the Travel Plan Plus (TP+) area will be published on our website by the end of January.

Also Congratulations to Jonathan Woof at Worldpay, Leonard Nonde at Qualcomm and Simon Kitchen at Owlstone who won the TP+ Annual Survey prize draw of £50 John Lewis vouchers (photos left to right). Once again thank you to each and every one of you who took 2 minutes of your valuable time to complete the survey.

Greater Anglia is giving passengers a virtual tour of its new trains, which are due in service from 2019. The company is investing £1.4bn in an entire new fleet with more than 1,000 carriages. The new trains will all be fitted with fast free wifi, air conditioning, and plug and USB sockets.

In the meantime people are invited to stations across the network to step on board one of the new trains via a virtual reality headset. They will even be able to sit down in one of the new seats and it will feel like they are on board a brand new train. Through the headset, people will be able to walk onto a station platform where three of the new trains will be parked – a Bombardier and two Stadlers. The Bombardier will replace commuter trains which run to Liverpool Street from Essex, Hertfordshire, Cambridge and Ipswich. The Stadlers will be replace trains on the Intercity, Stansted Express and rural lines. Once “on board” people will be able to look around them to see the new seats, carpet, finishings, plug points, large picture windows and even visit the toilet.

For more information on the GA Virtual reality experience dates and locations near your area, please click here

The Cambourne to Cambridge - Better Bus Journeys scheme aims to deliver fast and reliable bus services, with high-quality cycling and walking facilities, as well as a new Park & Ride site for those people travelling into Cambridge from towns and villages to the west of the city. 
 
The A428 has been listed as a key growth route, with 8,800 new homes and 15,000 new jobs planned between Cambridge and St Neots by 2031. By allowing for faster and more reliable bus journeys for people travelling between Cambourne and Cambridge and other key destinations. The GCP will be helping existing and new communities along the A428 and A1303 to grow sustainably, keeping people well connected to jobs and key services in the Greater Cambridge area. 
 
Have your say on the options for phase one of the Cambourne to Cambridge scheme, which will help to improve bus services and provide better cycling and walking facilities to the west of Cambridge. The public consultation is live can be accessed here

The Greater Cambridge Partnership (GCP) has welcomed news of Government backing for new and rapid road and rail links between Cambridge and Oxford. In a new report, the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) has urged Government to accelerate its investment in the ‘Cambridge-Milton-Keynes-Oxford arc’ - to enable the delivery of thousands of new homes and jobs and add hundreds of billions of pounds to the national economy.

The NIC report praises the GCP’s current strategy to address:

• ‘First-last mile’ journeys in the city area; and
• Its “bold” vision for future transport solutions as a means of unlocking further and wider growth.

The outcome of a feasibility study into future transport solutions, commissioned jointly by GCP and the Combined Authority, which includes looking at the potential for an underground metro system, is due to be published in early 2018.

Elsewhere, the GCP’s on-going work to build upon existing high levels of sustainable travel in Cambridge by encouraging more people to shift to public transport, cycle or on foot, is viewed as “coherent” and in keeping with the broader east-west strategy.

Full article can be found here