Strengthening roads & communities: Cambridgeshire’s holistic strategy for network management & public engagement

Cambridgeshire, located in the East of England, is a vibrant county known for its rich history, picturesque landscapes, and bustling academic and technological hubs, including the city of Cambridge. The county’s road network spans approximately 2,800 miles and is managed by Cambridgeshire County Council (CCC) who are dedicated to ensuring safe, efficient, and sustainable transportation for residents, businesses, and visitors alike.  

Over the years, CCC has adopted a wide range of Causeway one.network solutions to help them meet the evolving demands of their road network.  

The Challenge 

Managing a diverse and expansive road network presents inherent challenges. Previously, CCC faced complexities in coordinating street works, processing Temporary Traffic Regulation Orders (TTROs), and effectively communicating with the public. Traditional methods were often time-consuming and resource-intensive, leading to inefficiencies and potential disruptions for road users. 

The Solution 

Now, CCC’s suite of Causeway one.network solutions empowers them with a modern and holistic strategy for network management and public engagement. The platform is used across multiple teams to collaborate more effectively and increase efficiency.  

Accelerating TTRO approvals & saving 87 working days annually 

The Traffic Management and Plan Share solutions enable seamless collaboration between the Street Works and Design & Delivery teams. By transitioning from manual, email-based processes to a shared digital interface for internal TTRO management, the council has improved efficiency in processing TTROs, thereby reducing delays and duplicative admin.  

“Before we started the Plan Share initiative, there was a three-month window between us submitting a TTRO and it being granted. And during that time, we’d have no idea whether it was accepted or not. Whereas now, we can get a TTRO accepted on Plan Share within two or three days.”

James Chapman, Project Manager, Cambridgeshire County Council  

Cambridgeshire's digital-first approach to better public engagement

Using the Content Management solution, CCC provides the public with comprehensive, accurate and timely information regarding road and street works, as well as any public events that disrupt the roads. This includes files, images and videos about the road events and up-to-date contact information. With this approach, CCC has seen a significant reduction in the volume of public enquiries and complaints.  

“Since introducing the Content Management module, we’re not receiving as many phone calls or emails  from the public. Our roadworks icons on the Causeway one.network map have been clicked on over 227,000 times in the last year, which just goes to show the amount of people that are actually using this tool that we’re putting out into the public domain.”

Peter Sherwin, Traffic Management Officer, Cambridgeshire County Council

Additionally, the Live Link app empowers the Traffic Management Centre (TMC) team to send real-time road closure data to major sat-nav apps, aiding drivers in making informed decisions that help keep traffic flowing.  

“Live Link allows us to get road closure information straight out to customers and road users through sat-nav systems and applications, which allows them to make better decision making on their journeys and also allows the algorithms within the sat-nav apps to automatically divert people around any problems so they can mitigate the traffic flow and keep everything moving.”

Richard Burnett, Traffic Management Centre Manager, Cambridgeshire County Council 

From Data to Action- Cambridgeshire’s digital network management strategy

The Causeway one.network Traffic Insights tools, including Network Monitor, Route Monitor and Traffic Replay, enable the TMC team to monitor live traffic flow, analyse historical traffic patterns and manage congestion proactively. This approach is helping the council to improve journey reliability, enhance connectivity and reduce carbon emissions, supporting them in their aim to achieve Net Zero by 2045.  

“Previously, we used many different platforms to monitor the traffic within Cambridgeshire that weren't particularly accurate. Using Causeway one.network has enabled us to get more accurate information and in a timely manner. The Network Monitor solution gives us a live view of congestion on the network, which means that we don't have to rely on our Street Works Inspectors to go and visit a site as often because we have that information directly in front of us. This means we’re able to lower our carbon emissions, which helps with our net zero objective.”

Charlette Keaveney, Traffic Management Officer, Cambridgeshire County Council 

The Results

• 87 working days saved annually with 45% reduction in TTRO processing time: By using Plan Share as an internal tool to create, submit and approve digital TTRO applications, CCC has reduced the time it takes them to process a single application from 55 minutes to 30.  
  
• TTROs approved up to 31 times faster: Where previously the Design & Delivery team at CCC would send internal TTRO applications via email and wait up to 3 months for final approval, applications can now be submitted swiftly and digitally inside Causeway one.network and approved within 2 or 3 days.
• Traffic management plans created in under 3 minutes: Creating and plotting traffic management plans via the Causeway one.network Traffic Management module makes road work and event planning swifter and easier than ever before.  

“To create and publish a plan on traffic management can vary. If you're just doing some small work, it can really be as big as two or three minutes. If you've got multiple closures and diversion routes, it can take closer to maybe ten to fifteen minutes. But in the grand scheme of things, it's really not a massive amount of time.”

Louise Onyons, Permit Officer, Cambridgeshire County Council 

• 227,000 views of CCC road events within one year on the Causeway one.network map: Using Content Management to enhance the road event information available on the Causeway one.network map enables CCC to service more enquiries digitally, reducing the volume of inbound emails and calls to the Customer Service team. The  custom embed Events map specifically showcases public events that are disrupting the Cambridgeshire network, and the News Widget allows CCC to highlight the most major and important disruptions.  
  
• Significant reduction in traffic delays around public events: With the power to analyse historical traffic patterns, CCC can look back at previous events and how they impacted traffic flow, enabling them to adjust traffic management measures and reduce disruption in the future. 
  

“One particularly good example when we used Traffic Replay to good effect was the Imperial Wall Museum Duxford. They have a calendar of events every year, around 20,000 people attending on the event day. Last year, we had some long delays on the A505 in both directions outside the site. This year so far, we've used Traffic Replay data to have a look at how long those delays were and if there was a marked improvement between last year and this year. For us, the good news is that there's been an improvement in those traffic delays, which shows that the tweaks that we've done in the traffic management are a positive.”

Martin Ellwood, Events Liason Officer, Cambridgeshire County Council 

• Fewer carbon emissions with less Street Works Inspector site visits: Monitoring live traffic via Network Monitor allows CCC to be more reactive and dynamic when it comes to inspections. Street Works Inspectors can go directly to congestion sites when disruptions appear, rather than driving a set route to search for any issues. This results in less travel and ultimately, fewer carbon emissions.  
• Increased power to influence journeys and driver behaviour: The Causeway one.network platform helps CCC to keep traffic flowing by feeding live journey time information into Virtual Messaging Signs and communicating road and lane closures to drivers’ sat-nav apps in real-time.  

Future Plans

CCC plans to further enhance its use of Causeway one.network by trialling Plan Share with external contractors and works promoters, fostering seamless collaboration across all parties involved in road and street works management. In alignment with the Department for Transport’s Digital Traffic Regulation Order (D-TRO) initiative launching in 2025, CCC will also leverage the Traffic Management and Plan Share solutions to achieve fully compliant, end-to-end digital TTRO management.

CCC’s holistic integration of the Causeway one.network platform exemplifies a forward-thinking approach to road network management and public engagement. By embracing digital solutions, the council has enhanced operational efficiency, improved communication with residents, and strengthened the overall resilience of its transportation infrastructure. This underscores the transformative impact of technology in public sector operations, setting a benchmark for other councils aiming to modernise their services and deliver better outcomes for road users.  

“Causeway one.network is absolutely central to the work that we do within the highways and transport service. Without it, my service certainly wouldn't be able to monitor the network and get the information out of the public. The Street Works and Permitting team wouldn't be able to coordinate the works on the network. We're using it, in a number of different ways to make sure that we can digitise everything that we're doing and make things a lot easier for people to save time money and stress across the organisation which obviously gives the best results to the residents of Cambridgeshire.”

Richard Burnett, Traffic Management Centre Manager, Cambridgeshire County Council 

To discover how Causeway one.network can transform your road management and public engagement strategy, get in touch with us today.