Within Cambridge, a two-tier system of local authorities exists.
As the highway authority, Cambridgeshire County Council has primary responsibility for many aspects of transport, including local bus services, roads and traffic management.
Meanwhile, Cambridge City Council is involved with or responsible for some aspects, such as bus shelters, support of bus services, off-street parking, and new developments and urban expansions.
We also work in partnership with the county council on some projects, including city centre traffic management and parking enforcement.
Our objectives
The overall objectives of the city council are:
- to minimise the need for people to use transport, particularly cars
- to minimise the adverse effects of transport on people and the environment
- to provide accessibility, particularly to jobs and essential services, for everyone, especially those without access to a car
- to provide a safe transport system, particularly for vulnerable groups such as cyclists and pedestrians
- to provide an efficient transport system in terms of energy consumption, pollution and space requirements.
Cambridge Local Plan and transport
The Cambridge Local Plan seeks to achieve the above objectives through the policies for new developments within Cambridge.
The Local Plan takes into consideration:
- Sustainable Design and Construction Supplementary Planning Document (refer to chapter 2.2 Transport, Movement and Accessibility)
Corridor Area Transport Plans
Cambridge City Council, in partnership with Cambridgeshire County Council, has developed Corridor Area Transport Plans for different corridors within the city.
An Area Transport Plan identifies the transport schemes necessary as a result of developments that are likely to take place in an area. They are used to determine the contribution sought from developers as an obligation on planning permission being granted.
All the plans have been adopted by Cambridge City Council as Supplementary Planning Guidance to the Cambridge Local Plan.
Area Transport Plans are a way of spreading the costs of large transport schemes across all significant developments. Four Area Transport Plans now exist for the Southern, Eastern, Northern and Western Corridors of Cambridge.
In the past, applicants were required to directly pay for or to provide transport improvements to reduce the impact of their development in the immediate area. Some of the larger schemes, such as Park & Ride, are too expensive to ask one applicant to pay for, unless the development is very large.
Cambridgeshire Local Transport Plan
The Cambridgeshire Local Transport Plan sets out the plans of the county council with regard to transport until 2011. An annual progress report is also submitted to the Department for Transport each year.
Planning for the third Local Transport Plan is underway, and we will be heavily involved in this process. For more information go to Cambridgeshire County Council's transport strategies and plans webpages.
