How should we transform transport in Cambridge?

Cities of the Future with Filip Watteeuw
Tuesday 3 May, 7pm

Deputy Mayor of Ghent, Filip WatteeuwJoin Camcycle and Deputy Mayor of Ghent Filip Watteeuw as we discuss the policies that Cambridge could implement to rapidly transform our city into a place for people, rather than motor traffic. Filip will be presenting his experiences at our monthly meeting on 3 May, live on Facebook at 7pm (or contact us for a Zoom link).

At our meeting in December, Clare Rogers told us that political will was key to action on sustainable streets and Filip Watteeuw is an example of the bold, forward-looking decision-makers we need to enact change. The policies he implemented as part of Ghent’s 2017 Circulation Plan have achieved outstanding results including:

Diagram of Ghent's circulation plan
Ghent has been divided into six zones which restrict through-motor-traffic and a pedestrian area (shown in dark purple). Should Cambridge implement something like this?
  • 25% increase in people cycling and 12% decrease in car traffic during the rush hour
  • 29% fewer cars on the most important routes within the ring road and 58% fewer in residential streets
  • 25% decrease in collisions on the road
  • 60% of people interviewed said cycling felt safer than before the changes
  • 1% increase in the number of restaurants and shops. No reported drop in revenue for those in car-free zones.
Filip will talk about the project’s formulation, its social, environmental and economic impact, and the changes that have been made since the initial implementation in 2017. Please join us to find out more and to ask questions about how we can use Ghent’s experience to drive change here in Cambridgeshire. As with all our online meetings, the footage will be uploaded to our website and YouTube channel after the event and you can send in questions to us via Facebook, Twitter, email or Cyclescape, our members’ forum.