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World's first public Park & Cycle facility proposed for Cambridge

Greater Cambridge City Deal consults on facility at Junction 12 of M11

Cambridge could become home to the world’s first public “Park & Cycle” scheme in a bid to cut traffic congestion in the city and encourage commuters from outside to choose bicycles or public transport for the last leg of their journey.

The proposals are among several options included in a consultation that has been launched by Greater Cambridge City Deal on a new Western Orbital bus link between Trumpington and Madingley Road that would run on, or alongside, the M11.

The consultation, open until 21 March, includes proposals for what is being hailed as a “world first” Park & Cycle site at Junction 12 of the motorway.

It also outlines an option for a £30 million segregated bus and cycleway next to the M11 between Junctions 11 and 13. Improvements for cyclists are also proposed for Barton Road.

The University of Cambridge has, since 2001, operated a Park & Cycle facility at its West Cambridge site, but access to it is restricted to university staff working in the city centre.

“It works in the same way as a Park and Ride but with bikes,” says the university’s estate management office.

“Essentially a user can drive to the Park and Cycle area, park their car, take out their bike from an individual locker and cycle the rest of the way to work. Water proof clothing and cycle helmets etc can also be stored in the lockers.”

Currently there are 300 lockers and 292 cycle parking spaces.

The proposed M11 Park & Cycle facility would operate along similar lines with motorists able to bring their bikes with their cars, or leave them in secure parking facilities overnight.

While some Park & Ride locations already have provision for cycle parking – two locations in Cambridge, at Trumpington and Babraham Road have 250 spaces apiece –  it is claimed that the proposed Park & Cycle site would be the first public facility of its type in the world.

Councillor Lewis Herbert, Chair of the Greater Cambridge City Deal Executive Board, said: “We all know how congested the centre of Cambridge can get, so if we are to continue to grow we must find ways to make it easier to move around the city.

“The idea of the ‘Western Orbital’ bus service, on the M11 or a segregated bus and cycleway next to the motorway, could provide an alternative way to work for residents throughout South Cambridgeshire.

“We are also putting forward ideas for a new Park & Ride site plus a world first ‘Park & Cycle’ to meet the needs of commuters.

“We believe express bus links from these new sites connecting the developments in the west of Cambridge to the Biomedical Campus and Addenbrooke’s Hospital will greatly assist the way traffic and people move around the city.

“Our suggestions are at the earliest stage of development which is why we’re keen to hear people’s views now as we move forward so please take the chance to get involved either online or via the leaflet.

“These are very exciting times for Greater Cambridge and by working together we can make sure we deliver the best infrastructure possible for our residents, communities and businesses.”

The Greater Cambridge City Deal, backed by the government, is a partnership between Cambridge City Council, South Cambridgeshire District Council, Cambridgeshire County Council, the University of Cambridge and via the Greater Cambridge, Greater Peterborough Enterprise Partnership, businesses, colleges and research facilities in what is one of the fastest growing areas of the UK.

Much of the focus is on building houses and infrastructure to serve a growing population with transport initiatives focused on tackling already high levels of traffic congestion in Cambridge itself by providing alternatives to car use for those commuting into the city from outside.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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9 comments

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Gus T | 8 years ago
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Thanks for the response by the Cambridge locals, and to be honest we had the same problem with Pand & Ride access in Exeter and ended up driving into the centre along a very busy 2 lane road.

As someone who doesn't want to spend his holidays in commuter traffic looking for inner city parking places, I would much rather Councils woke up to the fact that alot of people now have MPV's and use top boxes whilst on holiday so need somewhere to park when visiting a town/city and amend their P & R's to cater for these visitors. As said in my original post, my wife and I often visit York and make use of the P & R to allow us to cycle into the city or just visit without driving in and we would love to cycle in other cities if we could park outside. It's not a matter of saving money, it's helping to reduce congestion and polution after all the more people use P & R, the better the enviroment for city dwellers.

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Edgeley | 8 years ago
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Lots of people use the Oxford park and rides as Park and cycles.  Much cheaper and just as convenient as the buses.

 

And you don't really need lockers - on account of riders turning up in cars, or mobile storage facilities as they are sometimes called.

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bigshape | 8 years ago
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I use the park & cycle scheme in leicester occasionally.

it's been running as a 'trial' for the last 2 years allowing users to park in dedicated spaces for free (aside from a £10 refundable deposit for an access card) and then ride the remainder of the route into the city.

it's a great scheme, as it's often quicker to cycle from the P&R facility than it is t drive during rush hour, but hardly gets any use which i assume is mainly down to the lack of promotion.

bit of a shame really.

i don't know why all park and rides don't offer the facility as standard.

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Stef Marazzi | 8 years ago
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Any normal Bus park and ride can also be used as a Park and Cycle, mind. I checked with BANES and Bristol councils a few years ago, although they don't advertise that they can be used as such. Time for a road.CC investigation into council policy and why they don't advertise it more? Probably cos the bus companies would lose out, if people started to think for themselves.

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Dr_Lex replied to Stef Marazzi | 8 years ago
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cyclesteffer wrote:

Any normal Bus park and ride can also be used as a Park and Cycle, mind. I checked with BANES and Bristol councils a few years ago, although they don't advertise that they can be used as such. Time for a road.CC investigation into council policy and why they don't advertise it more? Probably cos the bus companies would lose out, if people started to think for themselves.

 

I've used the Taunton one for P&C, but it's annoyingly shut on Sundays.

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Gus T | 8 years ago
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Hope it's better thought out than their Park & Rides, I visited Cambridge last year, whilst on holiday, and was able to get into the Park & Ride but unable to get out because the headroom at the exit was lower than the headroom at the entrance and would not clear my topbox. The pay and display machines were supposed to be touch sesnsitive to allow you to confirm that a particular car was yours but actually changed to another car when you confirmed your car. Then to top it all despite a queue of people complaining about being charged for the wrong vehicle, the Bus Operators member of staff manning the car park said it wasn't his problem and promptly locked himself in his office.

Cambridge could do to visit York where everyone parks for free in the Park & Rides and anyone who Parks & Cycles can get their exit token validated without query. York CC also allow enough headroom for most cars with topboxes to get into the car park or alternately use the RV section. One almost gets the impression that Canbridge doesn't like tourists and visitors.

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Cantab replied to Gus T | 8 years ago
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Gus T wrote:

One almost gets the impression that Canbridge doesn't like tourists and visitors.

To be honest, we have so bloody many of them, we could do putting a few of them off...

</facetious>

Your experience sounds like par for the course for Cambridge at the minute. Good ideas ruined by cack-handed implementation, all too often because the Tory County Council impose their parochial ideologies on the liberal and forward-looking city.

They added a parking charge on the Park & Rides for example which has caused passenger numbers to plummet (http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Cambridge-park-ride-Calls-scrap-1-parkin...).

Similarly it took the City Council a matter of weeks to re-surface Hills Road a couple of years back, but we're over a year into the works to install semi-segregated cycle lanes along the same road and only one direction has been completed (it is fantastic though!) and the other is just being started.

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kitsunegari replied to Gus T | 8 years ago
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Gus T wrote:

Hope it's better thought out than their Park & Rides, I visited Cambridge last year, whilst on holiday, and was able to get into the Park & Ride but unable to get out because the headroom at the exit was lower than the headroom at the entrance and would not clear my topbox. The pay and display machines were supposed to be touch sesnsitive to allow you to confirm that a particular car was yours but actually changed to another car when you confirmed your car. Then to top it all despite a queue of people complaining about being charged for the wrong vehicle, the Bus Operators member of staff manning the car park said it wasn't his problem and promptly locked himself in his office.

Cambridge could do to visit York where everyone parks for free in the Park & Rides and anyone who Parks & Cycles can get their exit token validated without query. York CC also allow enough headroom for most cars with topboxes to get into the car park or alternately use the RV section. One almost gets the impression that Canbridge doesn't like tourists and visitors.

I won't disagree that the Park & Ride in Cambridge is a missed opportunity; it's cheaper to drive into and park in the centre of town than it is to park and get the bus.

One of the reasons its no longer free to park though is because they've plonked tens of thousands of new houses down near the Park & Ride in Trumpington, and the bozo's involved in the planning approved single car parking spaces only, for two vast new estates.

The companies selling these houses were actually directing potential investors (we were one) to park their second car on the Park & Ride next door because it's free, and "no one cares".

 

It's a good scheme in theory, but like everything else in Cambridge, it's overseen by clueless people who don't seem to live in the real world, thus it runs at a fraction of its potential.

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kil0ran | 8 years ago
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This will be a great enabler, I'm one of no doubt many who live too far from work to cycle the whole way every day and as a result I drive part of the way, park on a residential street and then cycle the rest of the way. Dedicated facility would reduce on street parking and potentially be more secure

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