Transport

We cannot continue increasing our dependence on cars. The environmental impact is too great, but there is also a more self-interested reason - congestion is becoming increasingly problematic, and we cannot simply keep building more roads to relieve the congestion, especially since all studies show that new roads just generate more traffic. We need to promote more sustainable methods of transport. This approach could include promoting the use of cleaner cars - we should increase the benefits available to people who use hybrid electric or similar vehicles, and must invest more in research into even cleaner fuels. We should also encourage car-sharing more actively, and support innovations such as car clubs, so that people who require a car only infrequently do not have to own their own vehicle, but are instead charged for actual usage. 

Cycling, walking, buses, trains 

Sustainable transport also includes promoting other forms of transport. Cycling and walking are environmentally ideal forms of travel, and help to keep people healthy. We need to ensure that there are good-quality routes for people to use, where they feel safe and to not have to deviate from their direction of travel. Of course, not all journeys are suitable for walking and cycling, so we need to encourage the use of public transport, such as buses and trains. Limited government control and lack of investment has hindered these from providing the services that are required, and this trend needs to be reversed - I would like to see elected local authorities having more control over bus services in their area. Park and Ride is excellent, but we should aspire to reduce the number of cars coming to the City boundaries even further. The government's implementation of the free bus passes for the over-60s, which I support, is financially disastrous for the city, and the funding needs to be allocated more fairly. As an executive member of the East of England Regional Assembly, I campaigned for the much-needed Chesterton Station, and ensured that it was at the top of the regional priority list. 

Managing Cambridge's traffic

I was Chair and Vice-Chair alternately of the Cambridge Traffic Management Committee from 2002-8. This is the body that decides on new traffic schemes around Cambridge. I worked to ensure that we promoted environmentally sustainable forms of transport around Cambridge, while maintaining essential car access. This is a constant balancing act, and was an extremely good way to learn rapidly about the details of almost every single road in the city. Particular highlights and achievements include the Silver Street closure, transforming a road that used to be crowded and dangerous - even fatal, to a much more peaceful road, where pedestrians and cyclists can travel in safety, while still allowing car access in the rush hours. I was also very proud to have reinstated legal cycling through the city centre, decades after it was banned by the Conservatives. 

Safe and legal cycling

I have also been campaigning for cyclists to behave legally, supporting the Cambridge Cycling Campaign's activities in this area. As a driver, cyclist and pedestrian, I see too many cyclists who disobey red lights, and do not have lights themselves in the dark. I have often argued for the police to take an active role in monitoring this, in particular in the city centre near the beginning of the academic year, so that new students are aware that this is taken seriously.

I have also been campaigning to ensure that cycle routes are properly gritted in the winter, raising the issue in the County Council well before the cold spell last year. Together with the cycling campaign, we persuaded the County to review its policy on gritting, and while not perfect, the new approach is a distinct improvement. This winter will tell how imperfect it is. 

East-west travel - rail and the A14

The A14 is a notoriously congested and unsafe road, and it is clear that work must be done to improve it, especially since the viaduct through Huntingdon does not have much lifespan remaining. In 2002, as a new County Councillor I argued that we should make the required safety improvements as soon as possible, but was told that this was foolish, and that in only a few years we'd have a much better scheme. So the needed changes have not happened, and many delays have led to the current proposed scheme, with widening of the A14 to a massive 10 lanes, at a price tag now reaching £1.3 billion, much more than my 2002 suggestions would have cost. As well as the expense, this proposal would be disastrous for Cambridge's traffic, with many roads in Cambridge predicted to have much more traffic asa result over the next 20 years. This includes roads such as the Huntingdon Road (up 60%), Histon Road (up 50%) and Horningsea Road (up 105%). The effects of this extra traffic on the other roads in Cambridge and on congestion have not even been calculated.

One particular problem with the A14 is the sheer amount of freight it carries, and there is a simple answer - the much-needed East-West rail link. This would very simply allow freight to travel from Felixstowe docks across the country without having to use the roads until much nearer its destination. This would massively reduce the traffic on the A14, making it safer, faster and more reliable. Andrew Duff, our MEP, has campaigned actively to obtain European support for this project, and as the MP I would fight to ensure that our govenment took this opportunity.

Guided Bus

All Cambridge residents will be familiar with the saga of the guided bus, supposed to open in Spring of 2009 but still unopened, at a vast cost, and one which is still increasing. As our Leader on the County Council, I led the Lib Dem campaign against this ill-conceived project, arguing that the money and space could be better spent on other schemes. One particular problem with the guided bus is that it is not guided through Cambridge city, which is precisely where it would most need the guideway! It is the solution to the wrong problem.

As we are now seeing, the County's focus on the guided bus is leading them to sacrifice other bus facilities in its name, with bus stops being handed over for guided-only use, and continuing limits on where it will pick up passengers in Cambridge. How effective it will be will have to be seen when it does finally open. I am sure it will work well in some areas - travel from Swavesey to the Science Park, for example, but I will be surprised if it delivers sufficient benefits to Cambridge to make up for the cost, already over £115 million pounds. Remembering all the times I was promised by Conservatives at Shire Hall that it would be built 'on time, on budget', and with 'no cost to the Council Taxpayer', I remain skeptical.