Transport Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers

Volume 167 Issue TR3 Transport 167 June 2014 Issue TR3
Pages 124–133 http://dx.doi.org/10.1680/tran.12.00091
Cambridgeshire guided busway, UK – an Paper 1200091
analysis of usage Received 28/11/2012 Accepted 28/01/2014
Published online 09/04/2014
Brett and Menzies Keywords: social impact/transport management/transport planning

ICE Publishing: All rights reserved

Cambridgeshire guided busway,

UK – an analysis of usage
j
1 Alan Brett PhD, FCILT, MTPS j
2 Bob Menzies BSc, MICE
Director, Highways and Transportation, Atkins, Epsom, UK Head of Major Infrastructure Delivery, Cambridgeshire County
Council, Cambridge, UK

j
1 j
2

The UK’s Cambridgeshire guided busway, the longest in the world, opened in the UK in August 2011, providing high-
quality bus services in the corridor connecting Huntingdon, St Ives, Cambridge and Addenbrooke’s/Trumpington. The
opening of the busway resulted in an immediate near doubling of bus patronage being reported by the main
operator in the corridor, with busway patronage at a level not expected until 2 years after opening. Atkins and
Cambridgeshire County Council have jointly funded a programme of surveys and research to develop an under-
standing of who is using the busway and why they are using it. Detailed user surveys were undertaken in April/May
2012, with more than 800 completed interviews at stops across the busway system. The analysis shows some
unexpected results, including very high numbers of users who had a car available and also a high proportion of new
users with free parking available in Cambridge. This paper provides an overview of the research results with
comparison to other data sets where available. The paper concludes by considering the implications of this research
for patronage forecasting and scheme design for future high-quality bus systems.

1. Introduction
The Cambridgeshire guided busway opened on 7 August 2011
with core routes between Huntingdon, St Ives, Cambridge city
centre, Addenbrooke’s Hospital and Trumpington park-and-ride
(P&R) site. The bus operators reported overcrowding almost
immediately and the service frequency has been enhanced
considerably since opening to cope with passenger numbers.
There is a lack of monitoring information for high-quality bus
systems in the UK, creating uncertainty when developing
forecasts for such systems. Given this lack of knowledge,
Cambridgeshire County Council (CCC) and Atkins have jointly
funded detailed research examining busway usage to provide a
clearer understanding of the characteristics of busway users and
the transport effects of the busway. Atkins developed a passen-
ger interview strategy in consultation with CCC. The examina-
tion of transport effects sought to determine not only what mode
passengers had used in cases where modal shift had taken place
but also whether the busway had influenced passengers’ choice
of journey destination. Passenger interview surveys were under-
taken over 2 d. A total of 855 responses were collected,
exceeding the target of 800 interviews. This paper presents an
overview of the findings of the analysis of the passenger surveys
and concludes by considering the implications of this research
for the future development and design of high-quality bus
systems. The full report detailing the research is available
(Atkins and CCC, 2012) and this report is subsequently referred
to as the ‘user survey report’ in this paper.
2. Background
2.1 Description of the busway
The Cambridgeshire busway is the longest guided busway in the
world, with almost 25 km of dedicated busway infrastructure as
part of a total route length for busway services of 40 km (Figure
1). There are two sections
j a longer section connecting St Ives to the north-west of
Cambridge with the northern side of the city
j a shorter section between Cambridge railway station and the
Trumpington P&R site to the south of Cambridge.
The busway was built as part of a package of measures to
address congestion problems in the Cambridge–Huntingdon
corridor and support the continued economic growth of the
Cambridge sub-region. The busway enables bus services to avoid
congestion on the A14 between Huntingdon and Cambridge, one
of the most congested sections of all-purpose dual-carriageway
road in the UK. The busway is designed to attract car users
from the A14 and help reduce congestion in the A14 corridor.
The busway was also developed to aid the continued growth of

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Brett and Menzies

Somersham

A14 A141
Huntingdon
town centre St Ives
A14 Houghton River Ouse
town centre St Ives P&R
Railway station River Ouse
Hemingfords Fen Drayton
6 Lakes Over Willingham
Godmanchester
09
A1

Fenstanton
River Ouse Longstanton P&R
Fen Drayton Swavesey
Rampton
Cottenham
Longstanton Proposed
new town,
5 0 Northstowe
A14 1 0
B Oakington A10
Histon/
Impington Milton
Girton Cambridge Regional College
A14
Science Park
J14 Orchard
Park A14
J13
Cambridge
Guideway Road City centre
Motorway Railway
Local busway through
M11 station
proposed new town Town/village 9
30

The busway on road route Proposed new development Addenbrooke’s

A1

Trumpington Hospital
Busway stop New P&R site P&R Trumpington A1
J11 30
Not to scale N 7

Figure 1. Busway route map

employment in the nationally important technology based area
centred on Cambridge and provide direct access to world-
renowned science facilities.
The busway services operate on-street between Huntingdon and
St Ives and through Cambridge between the two sections of
busway. Bus priority measures ensure that the services can
operate quickly and reliably on the on-street sections, particularly
within Cambridge connecting key locations including Cambridge
Regional College, the Science Park, the city centre, Cambridge
railway station, Addenbrooke’s Hospital and the Trumpington
P&R site.
The dedicated busway sections of the route (Figure 2) have been
constructed on disused railway lines and have been designed to
enable a high-speed (90 km/h) and reliable operation that is
totally segregated from other traffic (Figure 3 is a photograph
taken on a bus travelling at 88.5 km/h). The busway halts (Figure
4) provide for access from nearby village catchments and include
cycle parking facilities, real-time information and ticket ma-
chines. New P&R sites have been provided on the busway at St
Ives and Longstanton, while the southern section links to the
existing Trumpington P&R. Buses can join or leave the busway
at a number of locations, enabling services to and from a wide
range of places off the busway.
Two operators currently run buses along the busway without
subsidy and pay access charges to do so. Services are operated by
new single- and double-decker vehicles of standard construction
but with a high internal specification including wheelchair access,
leather seats with increased legroom, air conditioning, power
sockets and free Wi-Fi. Vehicles are finished in a dedicated
busway livery regardless of operator, reinforcing a clear busway
brand. During the day on Mondays to Saturdays, a bus runs at
least every 7–8 min on the core section of the busway north of
Cambridge. Fares for the busway services are equivalent to those
charged prior to the busway opening, with no ‘premium’ fare
applied.
Overcrowding has been a feature of peak period services and the
operators have responded with a series of increases in peak
period service levels. Peak period services were increased soon
after opening in September 2011 and again in October 2011.
Additional buses were delivered to support a further increase in
services in June 2012. Before the busway opened there were five
morning peak bus departures from St Ives to Cambridge; this

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Brett and Menzies

Figure 4. Busway halt

increased to ten when the busway opened in August 2011. As a

result of passenger demand, morning peak departures had further
increased to 17 by September 2012.

Scheduled journey times on the busway are significantly faster than

those previously scheduled for the equivalent services using the
A14. For the journey between St Ives and Cambridge rail station,
the journey time has reduced from 57 min before opening to 45 min
using the busway. In addition, the busway services provide much
greater punctuality as they avoid the severely congested A14
between Huntingdon and Cambridge, which suffers frequent un-
predictable major delays due to incidents such as accidents and
vehicle breakdowns as well as predictable peak period congestion.
Figure 2. Busway guideway section
2.2 Forecast and outturn busway ridership
Forecasts for the busway were developed using a conventional
four-stage transport model comprising

j trip generation/attraction
j trip distribution
j choice of mode
j assignment to routes.

The choice of mode stage included a detailed modal choice model

focused specifically on the busway corridor between Huntingdon
and Cambridge and to the south of Cambridge. This model was
developed to estimate the modal split, firstly between car and
public transport and then secondly between conventional bus and
busway services. Modal parameters for the busway services were
based on those typically used for rail-based schemes, reflecting
the level of service to be delivered by the busway. This decision
was subsequently supported by evidence from Nantes, France,
where a bus rapid transit service delivered in one corridor was
shown to have the same level of modal attraction as light rail
delivered in other similar corridors (Garrigue, 2007).

Figure 3. Onboard the busway Forecasts for the busway suggested that it would carry 1.75
million passengers in its first year, with demand increasing to

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2.625 million in year 2 and 3.5 million in year 3. The actual
patronage for the Cambridgeshire guided busway was almost 2.5
million passenger journeys in its first year – an increase of 43%
above that forecast. The scale of patronage has resulted in
overcrowding on some peak period services and this may even
have constrained patronage. Following the introduction of addi-
tional vehicles in June 2012, monthly patronage in August 2012
(traditionally a month of lower passenger demand) increased to
243 450 trips. Patronage in 2012 continued to increase, with
280 200 trips in October 2012. The most recent figures show that
patronage in the 12 months to end of June 2013 was more than 3
million passengers and growth in monthly patronage from June
2012 to June 2013 was 25%.
While the first year patronage was in excess of that forecast, it is too
early to establish whether this represents a long-term increase above
forecast or whether it is due to a much faster rate of demand
response than originally forecast, or a combination of the two
factors. However, with annual trips to June 2013 of more than a
million and a continuing high rate of annual growth, it is likely that
the growth forecast of 3.5 million trips for year 3 will be achieved.
3. Usage research
3.1 The need for research
There is a lack of information relating to the performance of
high-quality bus systems in the UK context. Prior to the opening
of the busway, the main examples of such systems were Fastway
in Crawley and Fastrack in Kent. Both these systems provide fast,
frequent and reliable services with dedicated, branded vehicles
operating with significant segregation from general traffic and
supported by high-quality stops and information systems. Both
systems reported outturn patronage of around 40% above forecast
but no detailed monitoring or research has been undertaken to
explain the nature of this patronage. A passenger feedback survey
was conducted on the Kent scheme in October 2006, 6 months
after opening (FDE, 2013). The survey attracted 507 respondents
and showed that
j 19% would have made their journey by car before the scheme
began
j 26% had the use of a car, but chose to use Fastrack.
There is, however, no available information on the demographic
profile of these respondents or the reasons why they changed mode.
In order to increase knowledge regarding the performance of
high-quality bus systems in the UK context and to provide a
better understanding of what impact the introduction of the
busway had on generating patronage and mode shift within
Cambridgeshire, a methodology was developed that included two
areas of research
j consultation with bus users at bus stops/halts across the
busway route
Cambridgeshire guided busway, UK – an
analysis of usage
Brett and Menzies
j socio-demographic analysis of the population within
Cambridgeshire.
The approaches used for these tasks are now outlined.
3.2 Consultation with bus users
The main focus of the research was to obtain primary data from
bus users. A consultation exercise was developed to gather
information on the nature and level of busway usage levels,
experiences when using the busway services and the impact
the introduction of the services has had on travel habits. The
consultation process is outlined below, but full details of the
consultation and the responses obtained can be found in the user
survey report (Atkins and CCC, 2012).
3.3 Questionnaire
The questionnaire developed and used within the research was
designed to gather the maximum amount of information while
not placing excessive burdens on respondents. A pilot question-
naire was developed and tested with ten respondents to ensure
that the language, response options and routing in the question-
naire were clearly understandable. The pilot also provided the
opportunity to ensure the questionnaires provided the information
required to undertake the research. Following the pilot, a number
of minor alterations were made and the final questionnaire
(available in the user survey report (Atkins and CCC, 2012))
gathered information on
j journey origin and destination
j journey purpose
j journey frequency
j car availability
j impact of the busway on travel habits
j impact of the busway on mode or location change
j satisfaction with a range of busway characteristics
j demographic information (age, gender, disabilities, ethnicity,
household income)
j general comments on the busway and suggestions for
improvements.
3.4 Sample size
The consultation aimed to achieve a total of 800 completed
surveys from bus users, split equally between busway halts (i.e.
stops located on the busway itself) and general bus stops (i.e.
those located on the on-street sections of the busway routes). This
sample size was designed to ensure suitable confidence levels
were maintained (i.e. below 5%) when analysing the data as a
whole or by stop type.
It was appreciated at the time of identifying the sample size that
the achieved sample would be dependent on the level of patron-
age on the survey days, weather conditions and seasonality. The
approach used for the consultation was therefore developed to
ensure optimum conditions for undertaking the research.
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3.5 Survey locations were 07:30–09:30, 10:00–11:30, 13:00–14:00 and 15:00–19:00.

A total of 25 sample points were identified for use in the research,
as shown in Figure 5. The survey locations were identified to
ensure good coverage across the busway routes in Cambridge,
Huntingdon and St Ives. The bus stops/halts were identified
j based on the desire to yield responses for originating journeys
in the morning periods and destination journeys in the
afternoon periods
j to ensure as wide a selection of stops and busway halts as
possible, while ensuring that the stops chosen would yield
high response rates
(a) to ensure that all major destinations were surveyed, including
the regional colleges at Huntingdon and Cambridge, the town
and city centres, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge Science
Park and Cambridge railway station.
3.6 Survey dates
Interviews were undertaken at the selected sample points on 30
April 2012 and 1 May 2012. Four core time periods were used on
each day to ensure that a range of users would have the
opportunity to participate in the research. These time periods
Interviews were, however, conducted outside of these hours where
necessary to obtain responses at each sample point.
3.7 Enumerator counts
In addition to undertaking primary research with bus users,
enumerators were present at all survey locations during the core
interview time periods to provide counts of the number of people
boarding and alighting at the stops and to observe the volume of
passengers on the bus. The intention of the enumerator counts
was to provide a control against the survey responses and provide
quantitative data at selected stops to furnish CCC with informa-
tion on passenger volumes to supplement that available from on-
bus or at-stop ticket machines.
3.8 Demographic analysis of busway catchment
In order to understand the make-up of the population within the
catchment area of the busway, a detailed socio-demographic
analysis was undertaken. This used all available data sources
(including Census 2001 and relevant claimant data) and particu-
larly focused on the typology characteristics of bus users (includ-
ing children, older people and no-car households). The overall

Huntingdon Coneygear Road

St Ives Hill Rise/Ansley Way St Ives Ramsey Road

Huntingdon Regional College St Ives Ramsey Road/Chestnut Road

St Ives bus station

Huntingdon bus station St Ives P&R
Huntingdon Main Street/The Hollow
Longstanton P&R
Fen Drayton lakes
Swavesey

Oakington

Histon and Impington Cambridge Regional College

Cambridge Science Park

Orchard Park West

Cambridge Castle St Cambridge New Square

Cambridge Jesus Lane
Cambridge Parkside
Drummer St bus station
Cambridge rail station

Addenbrooke’s Hospital treatment centre

N
Not to scale Addenbrooke’s Hospital outpatients

Figure 5. Busway survey locations

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statistics for the area were compared with the demographic profile
of survey respondents to identify user typologies and investigate
propensity to change.
4. Survey results
Highlights from the results of the survey analyses are presented
in the sections below. Full details of these analyses, together with
a more extensive presentation of the results, can be found in the
user survey report (Atkins and CCC, 2012).
4.1 Characteristics of busway users
The survey results relating to the characteristics of busway users
are presented below. Due to lack of detailed research in this area,
there are limited data sets available for comparison. The key
findings from the busway research are compared, as far as
equivalent data are available, with the Department for Transport’s
national travel survey (DfT, 2012) and research carried out by
Transport for London into bus travel in London (TfL, 2009). Data
from the national travel survey were analysed using statistics
based on number of trips made.
The key characteristics of the busway users are as follows.
(a) Gender: 58% of busway users are male and 42% female. This
is broadly similar to national figures of 56% and 44% and
London figures of 54% and 46% respectively.
(b) Age: 83% of busway users are of working age (16–64). This
is significantly higher than the national figure of 72% for bus
users but similar to the figure for London bus users (85%).
(c) Household car availability: 80% of busway users are from
car-available households; this compares with a national figure
of less than 20%. While this will in part reflect higher than
average car ownership in Cambridgeshire, it shows that
busway services are offering an effective alternative to the
car, as confirmed by the more detailed car availability figures.
(d ) Car availability for journey: 62% of busway users had a car
available for their journey, 48% as a driver and 14% as a
passenger. For those users joining services at halts on the
busway itself, 70% had a car available for their journey as
either a driver or passenger. The majority of busway users are
thus not captive to the bus but have made a choice to travel
using the busway rather than car. The effect of the busway on
users changing mode is discussed later in this paper.
(e) Income profile: 28% of users who provided income data were
from households with a gross annual household income of
less than £20 000, 51% were from households with incomes
of £20 000–50 000 and 21% were from households with
incomes over £50 000. This suggests a quite different profile
for busway users compared to that observed for all people in
the national travel survey. In contrast to the national survey,
which showed trip rates for bus usage declining with
increasing income, the trip rate for the busway increased with
household income.
Examination of the socio-demographic profile of bus users
Cambridgeshire guided busway, UK – an
analysis of usage
Brett and Menzies
compared to that of south Cambridgeshire presented some
interesting findings. It highlights that the profile of busway users
does not match that of the local population, which in some cases
is likely to be due to the reliance of some social groups on public
transport for their journeys. On the other hand, it also indicated
that household car availability is often not a factor in the use of
the busway as 80% of users have at least one car within their
household. This differs from the findings of the national data,
where those with access to a car are considerably less likely to
use public transport than those with car access. Similarly, use of
the busway does not conform to the traditional model of bus use
where usage is seen to fall with rising household income. Instead,
ridership increases with household income of busway users, and
so displays a profile more usually associated with rail rather than
bus use.
4.2 Characteristics of busway journeys
This section presents aspects of the research dealing with the
nature of the journeys being made. The lack of equivalent
research limits the opportunity for comparison with data from
elsewhere, but the journey purpose proportions are compared
against national and London data (DfT, 2012; TfL, 2009).
4.2.1 Access to bus stops and busway halts
The majority of busway service users are relatively local, with
60% travelling 1 km or less to their home stop. However, there is
a significant proportion travelling longer distances, with 17%
travelling more than 2 km and 10% travelling more than 5 km,
partly reflecting the availability of the P&R stops. Linked to the
above access distance, the majority of users (almost 70%) walk to
their home stop with 17% travelling by car (9% parking and 8%
being given a lift). At P&R busway halts, the percentage of users
parking rises to 33%. At other halts on the busway itself, 10% of
passengers are given a lift. Passengers travel longer distances
between their homes and the halts on the busway and 54% of
journeys made to P&R busway halts are longer than 2 km. At
other halts on the busway, 22% of home to busway journeys are
longer than 2 km.
4.2.2 Journey purpose and frequency
Table 1 shows the proportions of busway users by journey
purpose together with equivalent figures from the national travel
survey (for both bus and rail) and for bus use in London. The
‘other’ category of trips includes travel related to employer’s
business, leisure and personal business activity (note that for rail
the ‘other’ category is dominated by business-related travel). The
table shows that 40% of respondents were using the busway to
commute, with a further 20% travelling for education, 19% for
shopping and 21% for ‘other’ purposes. At busway halts, the
percentages making these journeys increase to 47% for work and
23% for education, with reductions to 10% for shopping and 20%
for other trips. Note that the figures for education exclude those
under 16 years who, for legal reasons, were not interviewed. The
proportion of commuting trips was almost double the proportion
for bus travel nationally but similar to the proportion for
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Journey All stops for busway Busway stops only: %
purpose services: %
Commuting 40 47
Education 20 23
Shopping 19 10
Other 21 20
Table 1. Journey purpose data (DfT, 2012; TfL, 2009)
commuter rail travel. Use of the busway for educational trips is
relatively high, and this will be influenced by the concentration
of sixth form education within Cambridge and the location of
Cambridge Regional College adjacent to the northern section of
the busway. These figures demonstrate the importance of the
busway in economic terms, with 60% of users (70% of users of
halts on the busway) travelling to work or education.
4.2.3 Frequency of busway use
A large proportion (44%) of respondents used the busway daily and
22% were using it two or three times per week. For the halts on the
busway, the proportion of regular users increased to 49%. Regular-
ity of use is linked to journey purpose, as would be expected, with
80% of commuters using the busway services on a daily basis.
Some users vary their mode of travel from day to day, with car
being the main competitor to the busway. Some 76% of passengers
who used alternative modes for the same journey reported that they
used a car (39% as a driver and 37% being given lifts), with only
5% using conventional bus services as an alternative.
4.2.4 Length of time using the busway
The busway services use pre-existing on-street stops and new
halts on the busway itself. For the on-street stops, 77% of
passengers reported that they had used the busway since the start
of the service, compared with 54% for busway halt users. Most
of these longer-term users were former bus users and will have
transferred from the superseded pre-busway services, but of those
people interviewed who stated that they had started using the
busway since the end of January 2012, 54% were former car
users.
4.3 Travel effects of the busway
This section presents research results relating to the travel effects
of the busway. Although comparative data were not available, this
aspect of the research was important to determine the degree to
which the busway is succeeding in delivering a modal shift away
from car in the Cambridge–Huntingdon corridor.
4.3.1 Change of journey undertaken
A significant percentage (31%) of users stated that they had
started to make a journey with a different origin or destination
following the introduction of the busway. This proportion in-
creased to 40% for users of busway halts. Of those now making
different journeys, approximately one third were for education
130
Cambridgeshire guided busway, UK – an
analysis of usage
Brett and Menzies
National travel survey National travel survey London bus:
bus: % rail: % %
21 44 49
18 7 14
26 7 12
35 42 25
and one third were for commuting. As already mentioned, the
relatively high proportion of educational trips is likely to be due
to the concentration of sixth form education in Cambridge and
the location of the regional college adjacent to the northern
section of the busway.
4.3.2 Change of travel mode
For respondents making the same journey both before and after
their use of the busway commenced, 24% reported that they had
previously driven, with a further 13% reporting that they car
shared or were given a lift. It should be noted that multiple
responses were permitted as some users make the same journey
using alternative modes, but the figures suggest that at least 30%
of busway users previously travelled by car. These percentages
increase at busway halts to 36% and 14% respectively – so
between 40% and 50% of busway halt users previously used a car
to complete all or part of their journeys.
A particularly surprising result of the research was that 74% of
those car users who had transferred to busway services and had
previously parked had free parking available at their destination.
This car user segment (i.e. those with free parking) has tradition-
ally been assumed to be highly resistant to modal shift away from
the car. Fewer younger people (16–25 year olds) had previously
driven than other age groups but more had accepted lifts. Overall,
35% of 16–24 year olds using busway halts had previously used
the car, compared to approximately 42% for all busway halt users.
The percentages of each socio-demographic group who had
previously driven are fairly consistent except for the ‘professional/
higher technical’ group where, at busway halts, 24% had pre-
viously been given a lift or car shared, against 12% as a whole.
Contrary to expectation, the results show that the number of cars
in the household has little influence on the mode previously used
for the journey. It was expected that modal shift from cars would
be higher from households with more cars, since the national travel
survey suggests that it is in these households that local bus use is
lowest. Similarly, whether there is one or more cars in the
household, this does not appear to influence the availability of a
car for the journey being made on the busway. However, the results
suggest that household income does have an influence on transfers
from car, with the percentage of busway users previously using the
bus falling from 74% in the £15 000–29 999 income bracket to
39% in the £50 000–79 999 bracket. Interestingly, the results
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Volume 167 Issue TR3
suggest that those on the lowest incomes – up to £15 000 – have
transferred from car to bus in a greater proportion than those from
slightly higher incomes, with 22% of this bracket being former car
drivers against 11% of the £15 000–29 999 bracket. This suggests
that the busway may be influencing patterns of car ownership and
use among those on very low incomes.
4.4 Differences between usage at busway and on-
street stops
Detailed analysis of the research shows some significant differ-
ences between those users accessing services at busway stops and
those at on-street stops. Users of busway stops (excluding the
P&R sites) are characterised by
j a greater proportion of users in the higher income groups,
with 24% of busway stop users from households with an
income above £50 000 compared with 15% for on-street stops
j a greater proportion of commuters – 47% of busway stop
users commuting compared with 30% for on-street stops
j longer distances travelled to the stop – 8% of busway stop
users travelling more than 5 km compared with 3% for on-
street stops
j greater use of cars to access busway services – 12%
accessing busway stops by car compared with 7% for on-
street stops
j higher car availability – 70% of busway stop users having a
car available for that journey compared with 49% for on-
street stops.
While these differences will partly reflect the more rural nature
of the busway stops, they do indicate that the busway is helping
to make bus travel more attractive to users in the rural part of the
corridor. The characteristics of users of the busway stops suggest
a profile that would be more typical of a rail service than a bus
service.
4.5 Attitudes to the busway
The user research suggests positive attitudes to the busway.
Respondents were asked to state whether they agreed or disagreed
with a series of statements, with the following results
j 91% agreed that the busway service is comfortable
j 90% agreed that the service frequency suited their travel
needs
j 85% agreed that the experience was pleasant because the
buses do not stop very often
j 83% agreed that the real-time information is useful
j 81% agreed that the busway halts/stops are pleasant places to
wait
j 78% agreed that the arrival time at destinations was more
reliable than using a car
j 74% agreed that they like having the choice of operator (two
bus companies are currently using the busway)
j 74% agreed that the busway is quicker than using a car
Cambridgeshire guided busway, UK – an
analysis of usage
Brett and Menzies
j 64% agreed that the ability to drive and park their car at the
busway was useful
j 63% agreed that the ability to cycle or be dropped off at the
busway was useful
j 60% agreed that the availability of free Wi-Fi on the bus was
useful
j 60% agreed that they appreciated the ability for productive
use of time on the bus
j 59% agreed that car parking charges encouraged them to use
the busway.
Not surprisingly, younger respondents particularly appreciated the
Wi-Fi, with 80% of 16–25 year olds appreciating its availability.
Both free Wi-Fi and the ability to use time productively were
appreciated more by users from multiple car owning households.
Users were also asked for any additional comments regarding the
busway and its services. Some 46% of respondents wanted more
buses at peak times but 31% volunteered that it was a good
service that they were happy with. Thirteen per cent made
comments about information, with 17 respondents highlighting
lack of signage (either at halt or on-bus) for busway halts. These
themes were also reflected in the question ‘How can the busway
be improved?’ In response, 37% wanted more buses, 13% wanted
more (or more reliable) ticket machines, 10% wanted clearer
mapping and information, and 10% wanted on-bus stop an-
nouncements or visual indications. Since undertaking the survey,
service frequencies have been increased, a wider range of
destinations are now served, more mapping and information has
been provided at stops and on buses, and ‘next stop’ indicators
will shortly be installed on the buses.
5. Conclusion
5.1 Conclusions from the survey analysis
The research into busway usage produced some important find-
ings regarding the impact of a high-quality busway system. In
particular a number of these findings provide early and useful
evidence as to how the patronage performance of high-quality
bus systems may vary from conventional bus systems. This
evidence will assist the development of more accurate forecasts
for such systems, enabling more informed planning and decision
making at the option development stage. Improved forecasting
will in turn enable greater accuracy and confidence in the
delivery of business cases for high-quality bus systems.
Notable findings from the research include the following.
(a) The immediacy of the user response. Forecasting procedures
typically assume a significant ramp-up period for patronage
on a new public transport service, as potential users become
aware of the service on offer and make the behavioural
changes required to use the new service. Previous post-
opening research undertaken into the south Yorkshire
Supertram system (unpublished research undertaken by Atkins
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and the University of Oxford for the Department for Transport
and South Yorkshire PTE) showed that some changes in travel
behaviour, in particular change of mode, tend to occur when
other lifestyle changes occur, such as change of residence or
workplace. It is the pace of this process of change in the travel
market that results in significant ramp-up periods for systems
where trips involving a change of mode form a key
component of forecast patronage. In the case of the busway,
this ramp-up was expected to occur over a 3-year period. A
surprising feature of the busway has been the speed of
response to the new service, with a reported immediate near
doubling of usage on the services in the immediate corridor.
The research has shown that a significant number of users
have changed travel behaviour, such as mode or journey
destination, with these changes occurring within the 9-month
period between the opening of the busway and the surveys
being undertaken.
(b) The high level of ‘car available’ trips. The majority of busway
users have a car available for their journey and are thus using
the bus as a matter of choice, demonstrating that high-quality
bus systems can compete effectively with the private car.
(c) High level of users with free parking. A large majority of
former car users who have transferred to the busway have free
car parking at their destination. This contrasts with the
common assumption that car users with access to free parking
are highly unlikely to transfer to a public transport mode.
(d ) Rail-like demographic. Users of the busway, especially those
accessing at stops on the busway itself, have characteristics
closer to suburban rail users than typical bus users. Busway
users are more likely to be commuters, have travelled further
to the home stop, have accessed the system by car (as a
driver or passenger) and represent higher income groups.
(e) Importance of quality features. The research showed that the
quality features of the busway were important to users, in
particular the level of comfort offered by the service, the fact
that the bus does not stop often, the real-time information and
the quality of the environment at busway stops.
( f ) Influence of speed and reliability. Attitudes of users showed
that speed and reliability, while important, were valued by
fewer users than service frequency and many of the quality
features.
5.2 Implications for forecasting patronage for high-
quality bus systems
The above findings present a number of implications for the
future forecasting of high-quality bus systems.
(a) Adequacy of the incremental modelling approach. Traditional
patronage forecasting uses an incremental approach that
estimates patronage according to incremental changes from a
base situation. The busway research has shown that such a
system may result in behavioural changes on a scale that may
be difficult to represent with an incremental model.
(b) Use of rail-like parameters for high-quality bus systems. The
original forecasting for the busway used rail-like modal
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Cambridgeshire guided busway, UK – an
analysis of usage
Brett and Menzies
parameters in the modelling process. The outturn patronage
for the busway, together with the results of this research, has
shown that the response to the busway has been similar to
that which would be expected for a rail-based system.
(c) Representation of quality features. The research showed that
the quality features are of high importance to busway users.
Such quality features are not specifically represented in the
forecasting process but are typically subsumed within a
general mode-specific parameter. The research suggests that
better representation of the quality features is required to
ensure the effect of these on patronage is properly reflected.
(d ) Relevance of free parking. The research has shown that the
busway has proved highly attractive to car users with free car
parking at their destination. Patronage forecasting tends to
represent such users as being largely captive to the use of the
car.
(e) ‘Ramp-up’ period. As already discussed, the busway showed
an immediate patronage response with little apparent ramp-up
period, although steady growth has occurred since the busway
opened. This suggests that systems such as the busway, which
provide a large-scale change in travel conditions, may result
in a much quicker travel behaviour response than systems
providing smaller changes.
5.3 Lessons for scheme development
The busway research demonstrates those features of particular
importance to users and which should thus be incorporated in the
development of such systems in the future. Key lessons from the
research are as follows.
(a) Adopt a systematic approach. The research shows that there
is no single aspect of the system that dominates users’
attitudes and that each of the system features are of
importance to a majority of users. This demonstrates the need
to address all aspects of such during the development
process.
(b) Maximise quality. Quality features of the system, particularly
those aspects relating to comfort or convenience, feature
strongly in users’ positive attitudes and thus such features
should form an important part of the development of future
high-quality bus systems.
(c) Deliver frequency, speed and reliability. While the research
does not enable a quantified valuation of these key aspects,
the attitude response showed these factors to be important to
the majority of users, although less so than some of the
quality features.
(d ) Ensure ease of access. This should be achieved in particular
by a range of modes including cars and cycles, especially
where stops are in locations where access distances exceed a
comfortable walking distance.
5.4 Future research into usage of high-quality bus
systems
It is strongly recommended that similar research be conducted for
other bus-based projects in the future to add to the body of
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evidence available and provide evidence across a wider range of
system types (such as non-segregated as well as segregated) and
contexts.
REFERENCES
Atkins and CCC (Atkins and Cambridgeshire County Council)
(2012) Cambridgeshire Guided Busway Post-opening User
Research. CCC, Cambridge, UK. See http://www.
cambridgeshire.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/7CEF7FC4-6E0C-4F51-
A7E5-8D6D3714190D/0/BuswayusersurveySpring2012.pdf
(accessed 28/11/2012).
DfT (Department for Transport) (2012) National Travel Survey.
Cambridgeshire guided busway, UK – an
analysis of usage
Brett and Menzies
DfT, London, UK. See https://www.gov.uk/government/
organisations/department-for-transport/series/national-travel-
survey-statistics (accessed 27/11/2012).
FDE (Fastrack Delivery Executive) (2013) Fastrack 6 Month
Report 2006. See http://www.go-fastrack.co.uk/
downloads.html (accessed 23/04/2013).
Garrigue D (2007) Nantes Line 4 Busway. Proceedings of BRTuk
Annual Conference 2007, Cambridge, UK.
TfL (Transport for London) (2009) Bus User Survey 2008. TfL,
London, UK. See http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/
customer-research/bus-user-survey-report.pdf (accessed
27/11/2012).
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