The Transport Strategy for the University of Cambridge's proposed North West Cambridge Development will result in rush hour car journeys numbers across the area increasing by less than 1%, according to the predictions of the County Council’s traffic model.

The University has submitted a planning application to Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council which contains its proposals for a new community of housing, employment and local services.

The University has worked together with the County Council and the Highways Agency to produce a comprehensive Transport Strategy, including a Travel Plan, to minimise car journeys, particularly in the rush-hour periods.

"More than 100,000 car journeys are currently made in both the morning and evening rush-hours across the wider road network" explained Project Director Roger Taylor. "The County Council's traffic model predicts that The University’s Development will increase this total by around 900 journeys which is less than one per cent.

"The Councils’ Area Action Plan for the site requires us to keep car traffic to less than 40% of all journeys created by our development. We believe we can reduce this further to just 35%. With so many of the residents working locally or on the site, our proposals for North West Cambridge will keep the number of new car-borne commuter trips low. And by creating excellent cycling and walking facilities and providing quality local bus services we can reduce car use both here and to other areas of the City even further."

National and local planning policy emphasises the importance of limiting the need for car travel. This is done by designing a mix of land uses, ensuring that the site is well served by public transport as well as providing cycleways, footpaths and crossing points to encourage both walking and cycling.

These principles have been used at North West Cambridge to ensure that the Transport Strategy satisfies the University’s commitment to delivering a sustainable development. The Strategy includes:

Land Use - nearly three-quarters of the accommodation is reserved for University employees, students and researchers. With many working locally on the site, at the neighbouring West Cambridge Development, or close by within the City this will reduce the existing levels of car-based travel, and limit future car usage.

The proposed mix of other uses - shops, the primary school, health facilities and all the community elements - have been carefully selected to reduce even further the need for car travel by providing many day-to-day needs on site for residents, neighbours and employees.

Walking and Cycling Strategy - North West Cambridge is well-located near to existing pedestrian and cycle routes that link many popular locations. To build on this, the Development will provide good connections across North West Cambridge to improve accessibility throughout the surrounding area and the city centre. The Ridgeway, a high quality, dedicated walking and cycling link, will connect Girton to Storey’s Way. Other on-site routes will enhance movement between Girton to West Cambridge and the southern edge of the City.

The Development will deliver high quality on-site pedestrian and cycle facilities such as safe and secure cycle parking, quality crossing facilities and low speed access roads to encourage walking and cycling. The University will encourage employers to provide showers, changing rooms and lockers for cyclists at work.

All roads on the site will have 20 mph speed limits. This will be enforced by a combination of design, road materials and a bus-gate to restrict car traffic. Not only will this make the site more friendly to cyclists and walkers but it will also prevent rat-running through the development.

Complementing this, off-site enhancements will be made by the University to footpaths, cycleways and crossings along Madingley Road and Huntingdon Road leading into Cambridge City, for the benefit of all users.

Public Transport - to encourage more use of public transport, the University will enhance local bus services. The Bus Strategy involves both alterations to existing bus service routes so that they operate through the site as well as providing a range of new services. This enhanced bus provision will include enhancements to the existing Uni4 and Citi5 services running towards the City. There will also be a new service running between West Cambridge through North West Cambridge and NIAB to the Cambridge Science Park. There could be a future link to the Rail Station. The University will subsidise these services in the early years of the development to ensure these additional bus services are viable.

Car and Cycle Parking - the car and cycle parking standards will be set at levels to reduce the numbers of car parking spaces whilst maximising the cycle parking provision. This will reduce the car trips generated by the site whilst encouraging the use of more sustainable transport methods.

Travel Demand Management – the Transport Strategy also proposes various other measures to reduce the number of trips by car made to or from North West Cambridge. These are in the Development Travel Plan that the University will apply on all occupiers of North West Cambridge. Measures in this Travel Plan include the promotion of car sharing, the development public transport service, a wide range of measures to improve walking and cycling, and measures to increase the numbers of residents working from home.

Reducing rush hour congestion - while these measures will minimise the number of car journeys at peak times, there will still be some additional cars on the road. The University has therefore planned both to improve local traffic flow through enhancements to junctions and to reduce even further the car use by its students and staff throughout the city.

The University, being a major employer within the City, is uniquely placed to influence the existing number of car trips in the area generated by their many employees and students already travelling to facilities across the City. The University has committed to implement a series of further measures throughout their facilities across the City to reduce the existing car trips – such as a car sharing scheme, subsidised bus and Guided Busway passes, a car club and parking controls.

As a result of the all the measures proposed to manage the car trips from the University’s Development, the County Council’s Transport Assessment predicts that, when North West Cambridge is completed, there could be less car traffic at rush hours than there would have been if the development had not been built.

Full details of the Transport Assessment and the Travel Plan can be found here.