TransportPolicyIdeas2017 04

Some items to structure meeting with the consultants helping the University of Cambridge produce a transport strategy

Our aim is to help the University of Cambridge produce a transport strategy that will deliver on its aims of providing viable and accessible sustainable travel options for staff and students for travel to work, and travel at work.

Consultation: If a transport strategy is to be successful in the long term it needs to be supported by continuous input from the grassroots that reaches the decision makers and enables them to make the right decisions.

1. Active travel groups should be established for each major university site, there are existing groups for West Cambridge, and the Cambridge Biomedical Campus (BUG-WAG). Other groups might cover the central, and Sidgwick sites. It is essential to have local representation to understand the real needs in each area.
2. Representatives from each active travel group should meet with the Senior Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Planning & Resources), Director of Estate Strategy, Head of Environment and Energy, and Transport Manager once a term. Reports should go to the University Council or its nominated subcommittee.
3. Active travel groups should be consulted about all planned new and ongoing developments at an early stage and representatives from them should meet with the project team and be represented on the project board and representative user groups. Representative user groups and project boards should be representative of the target modal distribution of travel (>75% should use sustainable transport).
4. Active travel groups should be consulted in the issues that should be addressed as part of the comprehensive review of existing infrastructure (discussed later). They should help identify and prioritise these issues.
5. The active travel groups should be consulted by those responsible for transport and estate planning on individual sites.
6. When the University is responding to consultations about transport, such as those run by the County Council it should consult internally, in particular with active travel groups, on its draft response. This will ensure that the best possible response is given. The University is not any one individual.

Standards: Existing infrastructure is often poor, and even new infrastructure is not built according to best practice.

1. The University should adopt a policy of following best practice and good standards for transport design. Such as Making Space for Cycling and IAN 195/16. It should also recognise the local expertise available from Cambridge Cycling Campaign. Note that some guidance and standards for active travel design are poor quality and will result in inferior infrastructure that does not encourage active travel if followed.
2. There should be a comprehensive review of existing cycling and (separately) walking facilities across the University estate and existing infrastructure should be upgraded.
   1. There are many issues that would be easy and cheap to address, such as: unnecessary bollards and chicanes that should be removed (Cambridge Cycling Campaign has detailed guidance for this), and cycle parking that should be upgraded to high quality facilities. All these issues should be addressed within 2 years.
   2. Some parts of the University estate need more comprehensive work to improve access by active travellers. For example the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, for which a travel plan is under consultation, is one such area in need of improvement. A long term comprehensive upgrade program should be implemented to bring such areas in line with best practice over the next 10 years. New buildings and developments on these sites should budget for improving the whole site.
3. The facilities to support active travel of buildings across the University estate should be surveyed and improvement plans made. For example, provision should be made for somewhere to dry wet clothes and for showers.
4. Some of the consultants that the University has used in the past to design transport infrastructure have delivered substandard designs. Where this has happened these consultants should be identified and not used in future.

Federation: In a federated organisation like the University it is essential to involve all the parts if an overall strategy is to be a success.

1. Does the plan include the colleges?
2. Can the plan be designed so that colleges can adopt it?
3. Institutions (including colleges) should commit to facilitate strategic bike infrastructure through their land holdings.
4. Budget for an annual university & college bike parking facilities competition, possibly as part of Green Impact.

Induction: The best time for nudging employees to use sustainable transport is when they first arrive (or before they arrive), before any bad habits have formed.

1. In information given to new employees outline transport options and provide personalised transport planning for each employee. This would involve practical advice and assistance in planning their route to work and include a free bike buddy service to help them with that route. It would also provide help on making use of benefits such as cycle to work or liftshare. Bike buddies might be provided either centrally by dedicated staff or locally in departments by volunteers. Information should be sent out with job offers so that new staff can consider their options at an early stage - before they start looking for accommodation.

Benefits: The University should provide benefits to staff members who use sustainable transport in order to encourage them to do so.

1. The University should provide regular safe cycling and cycle maintenance training.
2. Employees may worry that if they don’t have car parking and an emergency occurs, they might not be able to get home easily. This can be alleviated by providing a free emergency ride home (taxi) for all employees without car parking. This is commonly provided by US employers to discourage driving to work.
3. Employees without car parking permits should be able to park a couple of times a year on a one off basis. It would be sensible to charge for this.
4. Employees permission to park their car on University property should not loose this permission if they do not use it, otherwise they are encouraged to drive in to avoid their permission expiring. They may only need to drive very occasionally. Instead car park occupancy should be monitored and a data driven approach used to determine the appropriate level of overcommit on parking spaces.
5. Two free bike repair / maintenance visits scheduled annually “while-you-work”
6. University & colleges should offer a free bus pass to all employees and students.