The U-bus will finally extend to Homerton and Girton colleges.
Some fantastic news for students, after approximately six years of multiple campaigns, the U-bus will finally extend to Homerton and Girton colleges.
The decision was announced at the University Planning Resource Committee (PRC) earlier this week to award an eight-year contract to Whippet, to provide a fleet of new electric buses from July 2023.
The most recent U-Bus campaign, which was founded by students at Homerton and Girton JCRs, launched in January and has been closely supported by Cambridge SU and other students around cambridge. Harry Goolnik (the student lead on the campaign) and fellow JCR member Heather Hawkins presented a paper co-written with our ex President (PG) Anjum Nahar at a previous PRC. This, along with a largely signed open-letter, cleverly coordinated social media, and college solidarity, pushed the university to provide better transport options.
New buses will operate on the Universal bus route from next year (July 2023), with the service extended to serve Girton College, Homerton College and Wolfson College. This will also include a ‘split service’ with half of the buses extending to Girton College. The split service will also provide more convenient access to Wolfson College with half of the buses being routed down Grange Road and onto Newnham Road. Some of the buses will also return to Hills Road to enable Homerton College and the Faculty of Education to be served.
Because the fleet of buses is electric, it is not only a great step in accessibility to colleges, but also sustainability within the city of Cambridge. This is a welcome step by the University who are slowly honouring their commitments to accessibility and environmental sustainability.
Speaking with Harry after the announcement he said:
“Project U are delighted to see that everyone's hard work on this key issue has paid off. For years, students have been campaigning for the U Bus to come to Girton, Homerton and beyond and it almost doesn't seem real to actually be happening now. Combined with multiple other positive U Bus developments such as the electrification of the fleet, the University has taken positive strides towards its goals of sustainability, accessibility and inclusion with this decision”.
I hope you will join me in congratulating the student campaigners involved on their amazing work and hop on a bus to visit Girton and Homerton soon!