[7] An independent review of the project was announced on 21 September 2010,[8][9] in which the Cambridge MP, Julian Huppert, described the busway as a "white elephant".

[11] The busway links Cambridge, in East Anglia, with St Ives, Huntingdon and Northstowe (a proposed new town) to the north-west, and with the M11 motorway to the south.

New park and ride sites have been built at Longstanton and at St Ives, with a tarmac cycle track/bridleway alongside some sections of the route.

The overall scheme was "not intended to solve the congestion problems on the A14" by itself, but will rather have an overall effect across the local road network, and be complementary to planned improvements on the A14.

[15] Starting at Huntingdon railway station and town centre, buses travel on normal roads to St Ives.

[20] Additionally, the guide wheels will aid close positioning at slightly modified bus stops within the on-street sections.

[18] In 2010, proposals were made to reduce the width of the bridleway, narrowing it to 3 metres (9.8 ft) and increasing the height in order to combat flooding.

To negotiate Trumpington Cutting on the southern section, a narrower maintenance track was required, along with the use of a bi-directional single-track busway to fit the width of the former double-track railway line.

Throughout the day, the route occasionally expands, making its final stop Long Road Sixth Form College (replacing the now ended C service, also operated by Stagecoach.)

From late-2020 to mid-2021, Route B also served Trumpington Park & Ride and Addenbrooke's Hospital, providing additional capacity on the southern section of the busway whilst social distancing was in place.

The council had previously held talks with Cavalier (owner of Huntingdon and District, prior to being purchased by Stagecoach) and another operator.

[48] Originally Cambridgeshire County Council stated that smartcard-based multi-operator ticketing would be supported, allowing passengers to board the first bus that arrived.

[50] In 2001 the Cambridge-Huntingdon Multi-Modal Study (CHUMMS) recommended widening of the A14 road and building a guided busway along the old Cambridge and Huntingdon railway,[51] which had been closed to passengers since 1970 and to all traffic since 1993.

[52] Since closure there had been proposals to reinstate the rail service, and for a light railway network, a bus lane, a road with limited access, a bus-way, a cycle path and a nature walk.

[61] In March 2007, the then Transport Secretary Douglas Alexander officially opened a manufacturing plant at Longstanton that would produce the 6,000–7,000 concrete beams for the busway.

[citation needed] On 30 November 2009, road signs directing traffic from the A14 towards the future busway park and ride sites started to be installed.

[91] The twelve junctions on the route fitted with bus priority traffic signals were tested on 16 December 2010 and worked as expected.

[92][93][94] In January 2009 it was announced that the scheduled opening of the scheme had been delayed until late summer 2009 owing to bad weather and flooding in the Fen Drayton area.

[104] During February 2010 the directors of both the signed-up bus operators—Andy Campbell of Stagecoach in Cambridge, and Peter Lee of Whippet coaches—expressed their companies' frustrations at the busway not being usable by the new buses they had bought to run on it.

[110] At the start of July 2010, it was reported that neither section would open before 2011;[111] the bus operators reacted to the news angrily, suggesting that they might seek to reduce the minimum level of service that had been previously committed to.

[38] At a council meeting on 9 July 2010, a decision was taken to concentrate on completion of the southern section in order to get the whole route opened, rather than aiming for a phased introduction.

[112] During late September 2010 BAM Nuttall missed deadlines for providing construction certificates needed by the Council, forcing it to begin its own inspections.

[113] On 21 April 2011 the busway was officially handed over to Cambridgeshire County Council, triggering a 28-day period for any remedial works be undertaken by BAM Nuttall.

[128] As a bridleway, horse riders can also use the maintenance track adjacent to the northern guided section providing a traffic-free route between the villages.

[133][134] The intersections of the busway with the regular roads are equipped with prominently signed "car traps" to prevent motorists driving onto the guide beams and interfering with the bus traffic.

[141] In December 2008, the County Council assessed the financial risks of the project as "high"; None of the £12.7 million funding—out of £23.7 million—due to come from property developers had been received by the promoters.

[11] In October 2017 tests began with a ten-seater driverless micro bus running on the grade-separated section from Cambridge railway station to Trumpington Park and Ride.

[171] Cambridgeshire County Council has proposed extending the busway beyond each of the Addenbrooke's Hospital and Trumpington Park and Ride termini.

[175] CamToo, a transport scheme developed by a separate set of local interest groups,[176] has also offered proposals for further expansion of the guided busway network including:[177] In February 2012 a proposal was reported from the Campaign for Better Transport to construct an additional Park & Ride facility at Brampton Racecourse to the north-west of Huntingdon.

[187] About 2⁄3 mile (1 km) south of Cambridge railway station, a tourist was hit by the wing mirror of a passing bus on 11 June 2018 and was taken to hospital with injuries to his leg and shoulders.