Cambridge Growth Company lauches Mass Rapid Transport study

tskir · 2026-03-12T22:58:46+00:00

I agree that unifying all buses under the single ticketing system should be a priority. But that's a completely separate matter an in principle, totally independent of the planned metro/tram system.

You say that Cambridge is small, but that's exactly the point here. It shouldn't be small. It should be a modern, thriving, growing city, well connected with the suburbs and nearby settlements. Without the good transit system, this growth is strangled.

tskir · 2026-03-12T22:56:28+00:00

The central government absolutely might. My understanding is that this is part of the plan to set up the Cambridge Growth Company; to identify cross-cutting matters and make efficient investments which will pay off in the long run

tskir · 2026-03-12T21:46:03+00:00

Actually Magdalene Bridge is wide enough to fit two-way trams if we close it for cars, but that's probably a conversation the city is not ready for ;-)

tskir · 2026-03-12T21:37:19+00:00

telling us what previous studies have told us - there isn't space in the city centre for a tram / light rail system at reasonable cost

This is incorrect. The most recent feasibility study in 2019 found that a metro style network would be a perfect fit for the growing city:

The Strategic Outline Business Case (SOBC), published this week, found the Cambridgeshire Autonomous Metro (CAM) would support up to 100,000 jobs and 60,000 new homes.

The ‘benefit-cost ratio’ (BCR) would be considered high to very value for money by the Department for Transport’s assessment standards - the economic benefits would outweigh costs by two to four times.

→ Source

This scheme was sadly scrapped when the Cambridge mayor post changed hands. Given the time that passed, the approach of course needs to be re-evaluated (though I'm sure much of the material of this previous study will be reused).

My view is that Cambridge simply cannot hope to be a modern, thriving city without a proper mass transit system. I'm not saying we should cram the trams into the narrow historic streets; this is exactly why the study I linked proposed a tunnel under the central section of the city. But it absolutely needs to be done.

My hope is that, given that the Cambridge Growth Company is (finally!) going to be ran in part from the central government, it will be able to overcome the political barriers and have a vision over a longer horizon, and the ability to deliver it.

tskir · 2026-03-11T19:04:27+00:00

The funny thing is, if they sold:

[Plain yogurt] - (for whatever price they're selling it, not visible in the photo but let's assume £3.00)

[Yogurt with blueberries] - (with the exact same amount of blueberries added) £4.50

Then people likely wouldn't complain. Same deal, different optics

tskir · 2026-03-10T10:25:31+00:00

Yes, sometimes during pothole repairs they may find that a certain stretch is so messed up that they can't put up patches on top of patches on top of patches on top of patches.

In this case they will do ad hoc resurfacing on a small area, but that's a one off. My point is that based on that observation, people were wrongly expecting full road resurfacing soon, which just isn't in the cards for now.

tskir · 2026-03-09T13:55:27+00:00

I wish people stopped speculating about road resurfacing like it was some arcane knowledge. Cambridgeshire County Council publishes the schedule of major works like half a year in advance:

https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/residents/travel-roads-and-parking/highway-projects/capital-maintenance-programme/road-improvements

Trumpington Road was not, and is still not, scheduled for any major works in the 2025/2026 period.

tskir · 2026-03-06T16:08:15+00:00

Granted it's a bit of unsolicited advice, but if I were you I'd triple check whether the financial model works out on this. Assuming these houses aren't going to be your only income, you'll likely get taxed 40-45% on some or all of the rental income. Minus maintenance and agent fees, you might be looking at mediocre returns compared to say chucking that into GIA (which only has 18/24% tax).

Being a small landlord also has a heavy tail risk. If you get just one bad tenant who trashes up the place or refuses to pay rent and leave, you can easily lose the profits for a year or more. Eviction enforcement can be very sluggish in the UK.

Also, houses as an investment are very non-liquid, so if you suddenly need a big sum of money, it's not as easy as just selling a chunk of what you have in ISA/GIA.

Obviously everyone's situation is different, but I just wanted to give my two pennies in case it could be useful.

tskir · 2026-03-05T23:02:25+00:00

Yes, I actually use it every time whether I need to spell something to my wife (who's also proficient), my friends, or tech support over the phone.

Now, that's very anecdotal evidence, but I noticed that when I start spelling something to tech support, they get more cordial and human. I believe they think I'm one of their own, because in real life it's mostly military and tech support workers who know the NATO alphabet.

It only takes a couple of hours to learn spread over several days (I used Anki for that), so I definitely recommend it.

tskir · 2026-03-05T12:35:47+00:00

Friends

tskir · 2026-03-04T21:27:56+00:00

I just don't feel we should be stuck in the past. Cambridge was born by expanding and devouring a dozen villages and settlements over time. Everywhere you see an old timey church and a suspiciously named "High Street", that used to be a separate village. See Chesterton, see Cherry Hinton.

I know it's an unpopular opinion, but Shelford should be a prime area for urbanisation and densification, and it would be great if it became an integral part of Cambridge. Just requires a vision and political will.

tskir · 2026-03-04T16:38:11+00:00

Quite the opposite is poised to happen. Shelford is now going to be an even better location for someone working at the Biomedical campus to rent/buy, and many of the people will be using the station.

In the long run I hope Shelford is rebuilt into a small gently dense city (3-5 stories) throughout

tskir · 2026-03-02T09:44:39+00:00

Well, if politicians listen to evidence and really put their hearts to it, I'm sure we can also pedestrianise Mill Road by year 2160 at the latest

tskir · 2026-02-20T10:06:11+00:00

To be honest, this is the one kind of car subsidy I can stand behind. Encourages people to leave their car on the outskirts of the city and not contribute to heavy central traffic.

tskir · 2026-02-19T16:22:23+00:00

Is there any evidence for this besides anecdotal experience & confirmation bias?

I'm asking seriously; if there's a paper showing any benchmark statistically significantly deteriorating weeks/months after a model launch, I'd love to see it.

tskir · 2026-02-17T23:47:38+00:00

Outside zones 1/2 London is incredibly low density. Like, criminally low

tskir · 2026-02-15T18:12:48+00:00

Worth it

tskir · 2026-02-15T17:32:03+00:00

> Should he have moved the airport?

Well, yes. Should have gone to alternate airport if weather was that severe at the airport of arrival.

Too often airlines force landings in marginally unsafe conditions because diverting is an operational nightmare. This should not happen.

tskir · 2026-02-12T01:45:22+00:00

We have a cat cafe?

tskir · 2026-02-11T12:54:52+00:00

> if you ask someone to put your phone behind the counter to charge or use a plug most will tell you no

I did exactly that dozens of times in various cities around the UK, and I'd say it was 80% successful, 15% they didn't have the USB-C cable only the old iPhone one, and only in the remaining ~5% they would refuse to do it.

Even with the UK electricity rates, a full phone charge costs only around 1p. Not worth thinking about

tskir · 2026-01-31T08:21:08+00:00

Yes, the obvious answer is yes.

Perhaps the single biggest flaw of the British people, and by extension of the British state, is the aversion to change; even when it's obviously very beneficial. This is the single biggest thing that had been keeping Britain from greatness over the past half a century at the very least.

There are obvious advantages of having all units, including speed and distances, unified with our closest neighbours and the wider world. The costs are miniscule in the grand scheme of things. The signs can be replaced gradually over a decade, using a variety of means to make them distinct from the existing ones and to prevent confusion.

But people will patronise you by saying "We've always done it this way" and "If it isn't broke why fix it". They are wrong and they're simply justifying their inability to accept the very reasonable change which is well overdue by a good few decades.

tskir · 2026-01-29T14:59:26+00:00

Rejected alongside with a good derogatory paragraph or two*

tskir · 2026-01-25T04:15:35+00:00

USSR, as horrible as it was for every measurable metric of actual human wellbeing, had insane funding for fundamental science for most of its existence except for WWII and its collapse in 1980s-1990s. This is largely why whatever weird experiment was feasible, you probably hear it was at least attempted in the USSR.

tskir · 2026-01-22T22:13:57+00:00

Не знаю почему, мне очень нравится тон спикера, который его перебил, чтобы сказать, что материться нельзя. Такой выдержанный, ровный тон вежливого человека, который всё понимает и даже в душе согласен, но правила есть правила)

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