How to reduce the risks of carmageddon

(The Guardian, 23 Sep 2016) George Monbiot (Our roads are choked. We’re on the verge of carmageddon, 21 September) bemoans Brits’ reluctance to travel by bike.

Apart from climate and geography (try popping to the shops on a wild day in the mid-Pennines) there is a dearth of suitably safe and inviting cycleways. The national cycling charity Sustrans was set up to establish a cycling network for Britain. Although great progress has been made, the routes opened are entirely aimed at leisure cycling – not the utilitarian business of linking A with B. Those who want to use bikes simply as transport are largely still forced on to the highway – almost always shared with heavy traffic. Providing a true national cycling network for routine travel is a vital but completely neglected task.
Paul Cairns
Halifax

• You don’t need to look as far as Helsinki or Hamburg to find an example of a city that is addressing the issue of over-dependence on cars. Come to Nottingham.

Travel by train to our redeveloped station, or leave your car at one of 6,500 park-and-ride spaces and take a tram or bus in. All our park-and-ride buses will soon be electric; the trams on our expanded network already are. Or get on your bike and use our cycle superhighway – with more routes planned.

External link

The Guardian, 23 Sep 2016: How to reduce the risks of carmageddon