CART- Cambridge Autonomous Rapid Transport

About the project

This project will explore how Connected and Automated Mobility Technology (CAMT) can be deployed in the east of Cambridge to solve real-world transport problems in complex conditions — conditions shared by cities across the country and around the world.

Cambridge suffers from a challenging transport problem: overly congested roads, a desperate need for more homes to support the amount of jobs being created, and a dense, historic urban form which makes delivering transport interventions hugely challenging. Historic efforts to solve these issues leaves extensive experience to build on. The step change in transport technology that is being unlocked by CAMT presents a new opportunity to tackle this problem, and in doing so, identify how CAMT can enable other cities to unlock their full potential.

Where previous studies have focused on opportunities where CAMT could be rolled out quickly or easily, this project focuses instead on how CAMT could be used to solve an existing problem. It will not shy away from the complexities of existing places, enabling development of a replicable strategy that can solve transport challenges even where a particular set of physical conditions are not readily available.

The corridor identified for the study runs through eastern Cambridge, linking the relocated Newmarket Road Park & Ride facility (Newmarket Road / Airport Way) through the Cambridge Airport site with Cambridge Station. The corridor is varied in character, with some sections running through open field and others through existing neighbourhoods. This will ensure the study tests how CAMT could be deployed in a real place, to solve a real problem, and improve the lives of those who live or work in the area.

The feasibility study produced as part of the project (the Cambridge Autonomous Rapid Transit) will explore the potential of CAMT to support sustainable delivery of major new development. The key constraint in Cambridge is land and accessibility — identifying sustainable and deliverable CAMT solutions could unlock needed growth within a highly productive, fast growing, knowledge-intensive technology economy in Cambridge which contributes significantly to UK GDP whilst contributing to achievement of net zero. This requires an innovative transport solution tested in ‘real life conditions’ and then applied over time across the whole city.

 Project Partners

• Greater Cambridge Partnership,
• ARUP
• Costain