City Deal: Call for Evidence CambridgePPF Approach: Opportunity - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

City Deal: Call for Evidence

CambridgePPF Approach:

• Opportunity for everyone in Greater Cambridge area

to benefit from a better transport system

• Provision of choice – how to travel, whether to own

a car, how children get to school etc

• Public transport option must be bus-based –

improvements to bus services to provide an attractive alternative to the car

• Identify a source of income sustainable over long-

term to fund public transport improvements

City Deal: Call for Evidence

• The only realistic and fair sustainable source of income is

some form of fiscal demand management

• If we want to improve our public transport services, a

congestion charge is the only sustainable way of delivering this.

• People need to be given a genuine choice – to pay or to

use an improved public transport service

• Congestion charge as part of comprehensive package

alongside infrastructure upgrades and public transport improvements, cycling and walking.

City Deal: Call for Evidence

• CambridgePPF believes need to correct the imbalance

between capacity of road network and demand by drivers

• Past focus on increasing capacity by infrastructure

engineering, transport improvements – useful but not enough

• n their own
• Need to address demand to change driver behaviour
• More stick as well as carrot

City Deal: Call for Evidence

• Demand Management:
• Passive measures to ‘frustrate’ drivers out of cars:
• Core Traffic Scheme, bollards, parking controls
• Marginally effective in stabilising growth but

drivers very resilient: need stronger measures

• Direct measures to encourage behaviour change:
• workplace parking charge: paid by employer

so becomes employment tax: competitiveness

• some form of congestion charge

City Deal: Call for Evidence How might a Congestion Charge work?

• CambridgePPF more concerned with having the

principle of a charge accepted that with the

• perational details
• Appoint consultants to examine charges in other

cities and model possible alternatives

• To be publicly accepted, system must be Fair,

Non-Discriminating, Social Equitable, and Sustainable

City Deal: Call for Evidence

Fair:

• provide choice – public transport or car
• income ring-fenced to subsidise public transport
• benefit spread across whole Greater Cambridge

area not just free P&R Non-Discriminatory:

• everybody pays whether resident in City or South Cambs
• not just a cordon but a city-wide network of sensors

City Deal: Call for Evidence

• Socially Equitable:
• all bus services throughout City and South Cambs would

potentially benefit

• exemptions: Blue Badge holders, others to be decided
• some element of differential charging with bigger cars

paying more: air quality benefit

• Sustainable:
• sustainable long-term income for public transport from

those who chose to drive

• some front-end loading as attractive alternative available from day

charge introduced

City Deal: Call for Evidence

Experience from Cites with Congestion Charge:

• Traffic volumes typically reduced by some 20-30%
• Reduced volumes maintained over several years
• Journey times improved proportionately but often then

increase as road priority given to buses and pedestrians

• Significant improvements to air quality
• Public attitude typically hostile at first but supportive
• nce quality of life benefits materialise (Milan)
• Substantial income generated: 10-years London scheme,

gross £2.6b with £1.6b invested in public transport

City Deal: Call for Evidence

Would it work in Cambridge?

• Evidence shows financial penalty effective in persuading

drivers out of their cars

• Needs to be part of a bigger comprehensive package of

measures including infrastructure improvements

• Public likely to be sceptical but experience shows quickly

become accustomed and then supportive

• 2009 Transport Commission, 59% conditional support
• Every reason to expect a direct charge to make a

significant contribution to alleviating city’s congestion