Centre for Cities comments on Cambridgeshire County Council cabinet's decision on Cambridge Congestion Charge

Date: 13/10/2009

Commenting on the County Council's decision in favour of a Cambridge congestion charge, Hannah Brown, Senior Research Manager at Centre for Cities said,

"Today's decision is the right one for Cambridge's economy.  A congestion scheme could give the city access to £500 million for local transport improvements - that's around 70 times more than the County's current Local Transport Plan funding.

This news means Cambridge will be one of the few cities able to introduce large scale transport upgrades during the expected spending squeeze - and its economy will benefit as a result.  But the County Council now needs to ensure the money is invested in the right places, and must also design the charge and charging zone in the best possible way to reduce congestion.

Cambridge has taken a bold first step.  We'd also like to see a national road user charging scheme to support investment in local transport, so that all UK cities could be better able to connect people with jobs and grow their economies."

Notes to Editors

A Centre for Cities spokesperson will be available for further comment on the decision of the County Council's cabinet on the implications of the result upon Cambridge's transport network, its wider economy and the future of congestion charging and the transport innovation fund across Britain's cities. 

Centre for Cities report 'Cambridge: Closing the Gap' is available at www.centreforcities.org/cambridge

See our Cities Manifesto at www.citiesmanifesto.org 

Please contact:
Claire Maugham at Centre for Cities, c.maugham@centreforcities.org / 020 7803 4315  / 07796 175248