Privilege bias is a bias that means you find it difficult to understand the position of those that are not in the privileged class.
I've been a cyclist for a lot longer than I've been a driver and I've lived in or around Cambridge for a long time and been personally affected by everything we've been talking about from all perspectives.
I am not "privileged" or unable to understand your position. I just don't agree with your conclusions for the reasons I've described in the comments above.
Cambridge has had very little impactful effort towards reducing car usage, hoping they can sidestep the difficult reality of having to reduce cars through a stick approach. Until that's done, there's no chance the buses will do much since as you don't quite point out, they're just stuck in the same traffic. They're still hoping to avoid reality by building special roads for buses and a few parking spaces outside the city.
It is unclear that a congestion charge would be effective in causing sustained modal shift in Cambridge, not least because it is unclear whether any council that voted for one would survive the following election. Prominent local councillors have been advocating more aggressive anti-car measures for years but so far despite the supportive rhetoric no council has passed them. Ask yourself why.
It is clear that buses can't be the main solution to traffic problems in Cambridge. The council has spent a lot of money over the years on research that explained to them exactly why, which has mysteriously been largely ignored, perhaps because it didn't give the "right" answer. But if you know anything about the mathematics of traffic modelling you can quickly convince yourself. Just try to find any viable location near the city centre for a central bus hub that could accommodate a significant multiple of the current bus traffic levels without causing gridlock in the surrounding streets.
Ironically the Park and Ride schemes that you casually dismissed have been one of the few clear successes in Cambridge transport in recent years, taking thousands of cars off the roads in the city centre.
For sure cycling provision is substandard. You have no arguments from me there!
I'm glad that we can agree on this. If the local authorities had spent a fraction of the money they've spent on pro-bus measures on pro-cycling measures instead, we might have been in a much better situation in this area today.
I've been a cyclist for a lot longer than I've been a driver and I've lived in or around Cambridge for a long time and been personally affected by everything we've been talking about from all perspectives.
I am not "privileged" or unable to understand your position. I just don't agree with your conclusions for the reasons I've described in the comments above.
Cambridge has had very little impactful effort towards reducing car usage, hoping they can sidestep the difficult reality of having to reduce cars through a stick approach. Until that's done, there's no chance the buses will do much since as you don't quite point out, they're just stuck in the same traffic. They're still hoping to avoid reality by building special roads for buses and a few parking spaces outside the city.
It is unclear that a congestion charge would be effective in causing sustained modal shift in Cambridge, not least because it is unclear whether any council that voted for one would survive the following election. Prominent local councillors have been advocating more aggressive anti-car measures for years but so far despite the supportive rhetoric no council has passed them. Ask yourself why.
It is clear that buses can't be the main solution to traffic problems in Cambridge. The council has spent a lot of money over the years on research that explained to them exactly why, which has mysteriously been largely ignored, perhaps because it didn't give the "right" answer. But if you know anything about the mathematics of traffic modelling you can quickly convince yourself. Just try to find any viable location near the city centre for a central bus hub that could accommodate a significant multiple of the current bus traffic levels without causing gridlock in the surrounding streets.
Ironically the Park and Ride schemes that you casually dismissed have been one of the few clear successes in Cambridge transport in recent years, taking thousands of cars off the roads in the city centre.
For sure cycling provision is substandard. You have no arguments from me there!
I'm glad that we can agree on this. If the local authorities had spent a fraction of the money they've spent on pro-bus measures on pro-cycling measures instead, we might have been in a much better situation in this area today.