‘Significant’ drop-off in busway passengers – put your Qs to councillors

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Some of you may have seen the article in BBC Cambridgeshire here – there are a couple of council/committee meetings coming up for you to put questions to councillors on this

Talking of buses, the Cambridge Bus Users have posted an update following their AGM which you can read here.

Buses and extreme heat

London bus drivers are taking strike action following their experiences this summer. Which also gives the bus companies about a year to replace as many old buses as possible with new, air-conditioned ones or repurposed existing ones with new air conditioning systems. Which is easier said than done.

The BBC’s Ros Atkins has published this report on the UK’s problems with the extreme heat.

Above – Why can’t the UK deal with the extreme heat? BBC News, 14 Aug 2026

In the meantime another part of BBC News has decided only one political party is newsworthy today.

Above – BBC Politics online at 22:47 on 15 Aug 2026

It also led with the largest icon as its main headline for the midnight news radio bulletins as well.

From the outside, it feels like the bbc is taking its cues from commercial online outlets and getting in a flap on both quality and tone. The bbc is a brand in its own right, work with what you’ve got, don’t try a panicky half baked version of other things that themselves maybe aren’t fully baked

— Jennifer Williams (@jenwilliamsft.bsky.social) 2026-08-15T22:59:29.670Z

“From the outside, it feels like the bbc is taking its cues from commercial online outlets and getting in a flap on both quality and tone. The bbc is a brand in its own right, work with what you’ve got, don’t try a panicky half baked version of other things that themselves maybe aren’t fully baked”

Above – Jennifer Williams of the FT, 15 Aug 2026

When will the corporation’s news and current affairs section rediscover its current affairs backbone?

On light rail by the LRTA

The LRTA has a piece in their August edition making the case for how light rail can support other transport networks.

It briefly covers the main city region light rail networks

  • Birmingham
  • Manchester
  • Edinburgh
  • Blackpool
  • Coventry

“Light rail works best when it is part of a bigger system, alongside trains, buses and walking or cycling, to make journeys simple and appealing. Passenger numbers and travel times are still important, but they are not the only way to judge success. More and more, people look at whether transport helps support greener travel and builds places where people want to live and work”

Above – Tramways and Urban Transit Magazine Aug 2026, p24/304

This is similar to the points made in an article in 2021 about the Dutch experience of combining cycling with rail – and one that is particularly relevant to Cambridge which has a longstanding culture of cycling.

“Nevertheless, they suggest that cycling regularly at a local level may typically be a precondition for starting to travel by bike-train: in other words, someone is relatively unlikely to consider using the bike-train combination unless they already are used to cycling frequently.

Above – Scaling up cycling or replacing driving? Triggers and trajectories of bike–train, Feb 2021

Future lessons there for any potential metro as Cambridge continues to expand?

If you are interested in the longer term future of Cambridge, and on what happens at the local democracy meetings where decisions are made, feel free to: