What a load of rubbish.
Increased traffic is down to the incompetent road planners and it is done on purpose because of restrictive rules and regulations.

If anyone cares to check - they will find that the dvlc lists the number of vehicle currently on the road - Approx â…“ more today than in the mid 70's.
You would think that there were far more cars on the road !

Quite simply - you are being deceived by the government who only spell doom and gloom and want to tax you for it.

John Forester, Lincoln, Lincs

ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS ASK.
Alex K and Bill Ewing are right, all timesonline has to do is ask.
Road pricing is the speed camera route to disaster. There is a solution were everyone is a winner, which has never entered the public discussion arena, not even by Smeed and Buchanan. Buchanan is quoted as saying that the motor car was the greatest liberator of the 20th century, are we going ham-string it because nobody recognised the simple solution since his Traffic in Towns?. Let Timesonline commission six guest contributors

Gut Liam, Hertford, England

No point in having your say if you do not print them all !
The truth is out there just do some checking as I did and if not I have some of the answers and the proof allyou have to do is ask

Bill Ewing, Dundee, UK

The government has to recognise that we need LESS road investment not more.

LISA SMITH, W1 7BA , LONDON

Too much marketing, who has time to read all this? And I am retired!

Helen Horsler, Surrey,

Lets face it, we're all going to be late, all of the time.

Nick, Jamsville, DORSET

Living in Cornwall I have absolutely no option but to use my car to get to and from work. Not olny would I have to add an extra five hours to my working day if I did use public transport, but I would also have to pay far more due to the ridiculous and prohibative pricing system.
If the government really want us to be greener, how about a curb on the profits and price increases of the "public Transport" network? Better yet lets have more investment into "greener" fuels as an alternative to Petrol and diesel, as well as into a truly PUBLIC transport system in rural areas.
As for the ridiculous cost of fuel, these prices continue to rise despite a FALL in the price of oil. How very interesting.....

Becky, Truro,

When train prices are increased to diswade people from using them because it would mean putting on more carriages; is there any wonder no one wants to use them.

Peter, York,

So why are people still using their cars when there's that wonderful alternative: Public Transport?

Well perhaps it is because Public Transport is too expensive, unreliable and inconvenient when used off peak. The same could apply during peak times. Why pay thousands of pounds a year for ticket if you can't be guaranteed a seat? Why put up with gangs of uncontrollable yobs who plague the bus network and travel for free?

The car is king for most journeys because it is the most convenient. The car goes where you want it to rather than follow a preset route. No doubt this report was released to add ammunition to the Govt's Road Pricing initative - another expensive disaster in the making.

The Govt has to recognise that we need more road investment not less.

Marc, Harrow, UK

It's called overpopulation.

Terry Dell, Weybridge, UK

Abolish the free tickets for kids, they do use the buses like a playground and they'll get fat if they keep getting on for one stop and then get off and throw their McDonald's milkshake at the windows of the bus.

Reduce the fares and make it cheaper to get public transport to work. In Holland I believe the ticket you buy is valid for an hour however many times you change trams.

I travel on buses when I got into London and it is easy, and I am old enough to have a bus pass, but something needs to be done about rush hours.

redandover60, Hayes, Middlesex, England

Here's an idea... how about if the government had spent the £2000 of each and every UK taxpayers' money on the provision of a properly networked, and subsidised, rail/bus system (including the forgotten rural areas of the country), instead of blowing the lot on the Northern Rock Lottery? Maybe I would then have a viable alternative to sitting in my car for hours on end on an over-congested motorway, that is no longer fit for purpose, each Monday and Friday.

The idea of commuting to work by train really appeals to me... I would be able to get so much more work done during the journey... if only I could sit down!

JK, Melton Mowbray, UK

So we continue to drive in the face of hugely rising fuel prices and congestion. it is increasingly paniful and unpleasant, so plainly we wouldn't do this unless we HAD TO. The inescapable conclusion is that we NEED MORE ROADS.

No-one is wasting fuel for a laugh, we travel because there is no alternative. The total length of roads in this country has hardly grown in 15 years. Result - congestion!

I can't believe I need to point this out...

Jon Cooper, Herts, UK,

Public Transport? 2 buses a day out, 3 back in. Last bus home 6 pm, so Cinderella does not go to the Ball, the cinema, or even Bingo. The bus goes to Windsor. Waitrose means using an escalator or lift to reach the shop floor. My two pet hates. Monopoly situation. No real competition. Fare £3.60 return. [I do have a pensioner's bus pass.] To avoid the lit & escalator, on to Slough. Large Tescos. Monopoly situation again.Then lug the heavy shopping back to the station, on and off the train, and down to the bus stop. This used to be in the station, so it wasn't far to carry it, but now it's at the bottom of the main street. £1.80 return train fare. For sub pensioners it has cost £5.40 each. You have to bag an awful lot of bargains to make up for that.
My daughter drives over twice a week and takes me shopping where I do get a choice of shops.
Need a Doctor? It's an hour's walk away. No buses.
Hospital A&E. 2 buses and a train away . No Sunday buses.

Beryl, WINDSOR, England

All these people leaving comments are trying to say that the government needs to do some joined-up-thinking to solve this problem.

No amount of hand-wringing or hand flapping will help.

Under-investment on public transport = more car movement
Uncertain economy = more business traffic movement
Rising population = more traffic movement
Exponential immigration = more traffic movement
Year on year increase in birthrate = more traffic movement
Bigger population to employ = more traffic movement
Higher cost of family living = needing both parents to travel to work
Higher cost of public transport = more car traffic
Unreliable public transport = more car traffic movement
Poor rural transport links = more car traffic

And so on, and so forth...................

Does anyone in the government read these posts, I wonder?

Annie Hancock, Bath, UK

What does the government expect?

Our "public" transport systems are run by private companies whose main concern is an increase in profits each year.

They do not care about comfort, safety or easy of use.

As a result of this it is actually cheaper for two of us to share a car and to drive to London and park all day than it is to catch a train.
The same is true at home. Do I pay £8 for a family of 4 to go shopping or do I drive to local supermarket where it is free to park! Even if we nip into the local town centre, do I pay the £8 for an uncomfortable bus ride with two children, or do I day £2 to park my car?

I am afraid that anybody who thinks that the future of transport is still public transport are as much living in the past as those that thought the world was flat.

Gary, Rochester, Kent

I'd love to use public transport to get to work and to ensure my son arrived at school on time. Unfortunately the proposed extension to the excellent tram system in Nottingham has been delayed by funding and planning nightmares. Build the infrastructure and it will be used - I certainly will.

HB, W. Notts - where's our tram?, England

I'm only using my car becuz of high train cost. I'm more than happy to use train if the cost is less..

Ram, Ilford, Essex

There are many valid comments on here, amongst others the one that we pay £40bn a year in taxes for the cars but only £7bn is being put into the roads. And it shows. If the remaining £33bn were spent on public transport and not on bombing people I should not complain, but at present the public transport is a joke.

In Manchester it is quite possible to travel from a suburb to the town centre and back again, if you have no time restrictions on you, but any other travel just does not exist. I once had a girlfriend ina place where it took me 90minutes to walk to, but that was a saving of more than an hour (not to mention the cost) compared to public transport.

Where I work now, it would take me 20 minutes to walk to the nearest tram stop, then 30 minutes into town, then a wait of 10 minutes to three hours depending on luck for the 50minute bus ride back out again to a bus stop 15 minutes walk from work. Or I could drive it in 15 minutes. Or indeed cycle it in ten, because of traffic.

Ola, manchester,

Once everyone has a car, everyone needs a car, because the whole of society is set up around a car way of thinking, from supermarkets to jobs to walks in the countryside.

Mobility tends to fragment society. Whilst most people know the names of their next door neighbours, unless you have children (who don't drive), you proabaly won't know next door but one. It by no means clear that cars are a social good.

A complete ban on private cars is what is needed, to conserve the precious oil for future generations. Then we can also bring our boys home from Iraq. Start with banishing vehicles from inside the M25, then roll out to the rest of the country.

Malcolm McLean, Bradford, UK

Continuing my previous post, where I said it would take 15 minutes to drive, or ten to cycle, irony strikes here: I have had to find a different and much longer route to cycle, because cycling nearby buses has proven far too dangerous!

I have witnessed more accidents in a single month involving dangerously incompetent bus drivers than I have seen in my entire life involving other types of motorists. And only once have I seen a bus driver stop to do the legally required bits after an accident, the majority will run away as fast as they can!

The buses do really seem to want to kill others, especially cyclists, I have started calling this Homicidal Incompetence: I'm even scared when I'm on a bus because the dangerous driving that is going on!

Give them some training in how to drive, british law, and the english language and I think a lot of problems will already be solved as far as people's trust in the (very few) buses that already exist.

Ola, Manchester,

JC, Bedford. People are already taxed dependent upon how far they live from work. It costs more for fuel to drive further. A lot of this money goes to subsidise train and bus travel. However your attitude demonstrates all that is wrong with the current transport system. Millions of people have to live in rural areas, where they have to drive to work as there is little/no public transport. You would have us pay more so that you, as a city dweller, can pay less.

David Leslie, Perth, Scotland

Nobody seems to mention cycling here. It is (or was) a great way to travel and i have been doing this for the last 10 years cycling to and from work daily. Sadly, the traffic is so bad now (i live in outer London) that cycling has become dangerous and I only cycle occasionally. I miss my bike but can't bring myself to cycle on our roads anymore. I started walking instead and it takes me over an hour but noticed the pollution is causing me health problems - so, you can't win.

Eva , London,

“Here is proof of Labour’s ten years of failed transport policies. They say they are serious about tackling climate change, but everywhere except London traffic levels keep on rising.”

Climate change is a political issue and not a scientific one but I would be interested to see how can anyone give a big incentive to people to leave their cars at home. Public transport cannot get cheaper cause someone has to pay for it, especially in rural areas, nationalising it means that the tax-payer will have to pay for its losses rather than just the users.

Maybe we should embrace change and work with it rather than trying to go back to "how it was" Cars are very affordable now and the independence provided by having a vehicle cannot be counted in money so people will not be stupid enough to leave that for a crowded bus/train! Any new ideas anyone rather than blaming the government and immigration or are we the only country in the world with congestion problems?

Alex K, Manchester, UK

I walk to the supermarket, and to my allotment, and to the shops. I will use the car for short journeys if I have too much to physically carry. I will also do if I have to travel and the weather is really bad.

I'd quite like to cycle to work, but the roads are narrow and fast, and have a high rate of accidents.

I did use buses during the fuel protests. I was quite happy with the journey, if not the cost, until one journey I was verbally abused by some bloke who took exception to my reading a book. He was so angry I was really scared. The bus was packed and no one did anything.

I've used the tram to get from Manchester to the Lowry. Again, I have been intimidated on it by men - a group of drunk youths and a man who I think thought that by cornering me he was protecting me (I like to take the charitable view). I am reluctant to use this now too. I have been stalked on a train as well.

Public transport is not safe. Unti it is I'll stay in the car.

Adrienne, Macclesfield,

if i use public transport to get to work, i would have to wait till 9amfor the first bus to arrive. 1 hour later i would arrive at the bus station, change buses then travel another 1 hour with a 15 minute walk, all this for a start time of 8am

If i were to take trains, that is a different story. 30 minutes walk to the station. 45 minutes into London, cross from Fenchurch steet to Liverpool street, another 40 minutes train out of london and another 30 minutes walk. Cost for a return would be approximately 12 pounds

However if i drive it takes 15 minutes to do 12 miles accross country. Which do you think i am going to choose

marcus saw, horndon on the hill, essex

This is a result of years of Government underspending on new roads ' if you build new roads they just fill up with cars' - no kidding! Poor or almost non existent and expensive suitable public transport - London being the possible exception, although not perfect, better than most of the UK.

People want to get from A to B with reasonable convenience and without taking out a second mortgage. The transport policy in the UK is a shambles.

Cwillnic, Cardiff,

Many 'motorways' shown on maps of Europe are two lane and would not be considered as motorways in the UK. In addition, most true European motorways are toll roads. We have the M6 toll around Birmingham but it's use is far below that forecast for it, and trucks almost never use it. Evidence shows that this newer motorway did not greatly reduce congestion on the M6, but instead brought new traffic onto the roads. More roads, particularly motorways, lead to people commuting ever further, and to greatly increased emissions. With fewer private cars on the roads there could be many more buses all arriving on tine - at the moment, I sit on the bus trapped in a bus stop with hundreds of single occupant cars blocking the bus route.

Stuart Greenhalgh, Stafford,

It's difficult to have 'a push' to public transport for long journeys when the alternative methods are in private hands. Convenience seems to be at a premium in our society and a car can be the only one, by miles, that gives this outside of large built up areas.
Ofcourse one way to place more people on public transport is not to improve roads.

andy b, london, uk

The French (to take one example) have 47 cars per square km of land.
We have 108 cars per square km of land.
The basic problem is not the fault of local or national government.
It is simple: we live in a small country with a lot of people.
When are we going to grasp this nettle - and admit that however inconvenient it may appear, the way in which we use cars at present is not sustainable?

Andrew, Norfolk,

Organise a week when everyone leaves their cars at home and travels by public transport. Leave home at the same time and see what time you get to work. When the boss complains answer that it's what the government wants. When the private sector experiences the consequences of lack of capacity, availablitiy and reliability of public transport then the government and plethora of transport companies may be galvanised into taking the problem seriously. But then, the government does not want us off the roads, it takes too much in taxes from the car users!

HN, Cardiff, Cardiff, Wales

My drive to work is 9 miles. 21 minutes it took this morning.

if I was to do it on the train it would take me 40 minutes, but then i've gotta drive to the station (10 mins) then walk from the station to my workplace (about 15 mins) so your looking at over an hour.
Then because it's public transport, I lose the flexibility as there is only one an hour.
In the morning I can depart at 08:23 or 09:48 ! Who are they kidding ? (Well, us I guess !) and it's £4.80 return which in my car is probably about £3 with all expenses added in.
So I can pay more and have less flexibility.. think the goverment get a big fat D - for public transport !

Daniel, Margate, Kent

Good lord. No wonder 1 in 20 of you lot come from up there.

Jamin, Melbourne, Victoria

This government acts as though stupidity were a virtue. They give us on an on-going basis so much crap about global warming and CO2 emissions to justify swingeing tax increases. I am led to believe that diesels produce less CO2 than petrol cars, why is then that diesel is now substantially more than petrol when years ago it was much less. We are also led to believe that there is (was) a £300 million pound shortfall in unpaid road tax annually. Why therefore isn't road tax put on to fuel which would at a stroke get rid of that problem. People would be taxed according to road use, and would I think encourage the use more economical (eco-friendly) cars, and co-incidentally any foreign car using our roads would pay. If it were that a half of the massive amount of money extorted from the cash-cow known as the motorist, we would probably have the most fantastic road system on the planet. Only the arrogant and corrupt government that we have can get away with it. Come the revolution!!!!

Robin March, Berkhamsted, UK

As a cycling hippy I'm about to buy a new small car.

Frankly I've had enough of being ripped off by public transport. The figures for a day away at the weekend speak for themselves:

train to Windsor: 35p a mile
train to near Aylesbury: 40p a mile
Occaisonal trip by train to watford for work: 33p a mile

Whatcar lists small car costs as 23p to 24p a mile.
Take a friend as we're looking at 12p a mile - 66% less than taking the train

As for carbon emissions. Trains are 60g per kilometer. There are currently 10 makes of car creating under 120 g/km. So long as I have a passenger I don't appear to be increasing carbon emissions.

It's a humiliating experience trying to have a day away at the weekend with a tube system that's half shut, trains that cost a fortune and don't connect with any buses that take you where you actually want to go to.

I can't see any efforts being made to make trains cheaper. If anything the train companies are being charged and taxed to hell

Mark, London, London

Im a UK national and I am currently living in Moscow. I could drive in Moscow but I don't see the point as it is quicker to get to work on the metro which costs me around 10-12GBP per month. The transport system is really efficient and so I try to use public transport where possible and although prices have gone up in recent years it is still reasonable e.g. I just bought a ticket on an overnight train to Kiev (11hours journey) which cost 40GBP.
The problem is as soon as I get to the UK I have to pick up a car as if I am not in the centre of London I simply can't get anywhere. The trains and buses are really expensive it such as shame we can't get our act together.

DCH, Nottingham,

"For everyone stuck in a queue, there is a simple solution, it's called a motorbike.

Richard, Edinburgh, UK"

Isn't the alternative name for a motocyclist a "donor"...

Garry W, London,

I'm sure the 'problem' we have is compounded by inaccurate statistics. For as long as I can remember we have been told the population of the UK as 60 million - if there are 26.5m registered cars and you adjust the total population to take out children and the aged there is a potential driver population of roughly 38 million. Thus a 70% chance of individual car ownership. People evidently need their cars otherwise they wouldn't buy, tax and maintain them. Some policy makers clearly need to have a reality check. Even some US sources of data give population estimates for the UK as 80 million and in my view that is probably nearer to the truth than the questionable results of our census. We need a transport infrastructure that can support that population and further growth in the population - not less. Trying to tax car drivers and making roads into a 'scarce' resource is not a solution to anything - in fact it is just the same as putting ones head in the sand.

Bina, London,

While I would agree with your agument that roads are becoming more congested, one has to ask the question why?
In my home city it appears that the local council in their infinite wisdom decided to slow traffic down by introducing several new traffic calming measures, some are speed cameras where they are not needed, some are the placement of bus stops near busy junctions, which means that every time a bus stops the traffic behind cannot move.
All of this added to the increase in the number of vehicles is causing road chaos.
Remove the bus stops from busy junctions and allow the traffic to flow, this will reduce congestion. Also the phasing of traffic lights needs to be looked at as well as the removal of said traffic lights.
These measures are designed to help traffic move, although most councils would rather increase congestion to enable them to qualify for support to introduce congestion charging.
Of course they would not admit that, would they.

Christy Conroy, Leicester, UK

It is difficult to remember when a decent A to B route was built in the UK - try driving the length of Wales for example. Clearly self-regulating demand management is not working, (i.e.people will get fed up with road congestion and take to public transport). The political will is not there to sort out either modes - more important apparently that we stick our noses into Iraq and Afghanstan at mega cost to life and purse

Terry Hawker, L'Absie, France

The train operating companies have to pay the government huge sums to secure their franchises (enough to bankrupt them in some cases) which we the paying public have to effectively pay back by way of increased fares. The duty and VAT on fuel represents the vast majority (over 80%) of what we pay per litre. And that is in addition to rising road fund costs and VAT on every other consumable related to your car.

The tax grab from transport is just too huge, too tempting for this high-spending government to ignore. Transport is a very effective method of taxing both industry and the private traveller. The next tax will be so-called 'green' taxes - a fine political excuse to take more out of our pockets when its the likes of China and India who are really hurting the climate. Cheap transport is just a dream, the tax squeeze is the reality!
Cheers,

Adrian, London,

This really isn't rocket science. Cars are still cheaper and more convenient than public transport unless one lives in the large metropolitan areas. Even then the government has allowed fares to rocket. People know that, though car journeys can be afflicted by delays, buses have to use the same roads and don't drop you door to door. They are also prone to antisocial behaviour, crime and can be filthy. How many people caught colds, flu and sickness bugs on public transport?

Furthermore, it is true that many cars have only one occupant but what of buses? How many are full?

And then there is the nonsense of the Christmas shut down. Billions spent on subsidy and yet people are stranded over Christmas unless they have a car. Only in Britain. It's embarrassing really.

Lower fares and make the system cleaner, safer and more efficient and people will use it. Its easy. Even this government ought to be able to work it out.

Paul Owen, Birmingham, Uk

Hardly surprising car use is going up in rural areas. In the many years I've lived in a rural area, public transport provision has been slashed to virtual non-existance. That, combined with the closure of local shops, post offices and folk have little option other than to use a private car. I use my bicycle for many rural journeys, but that isn't considered as an option by most, which is a shame. On a recent trip to France, I used the train. Whilst Eurostar was excellent, the train from Norfolk into London & back was dreadful. Expensive (it would have been cheaper to go London & back by car - including parking charges!), delays, train replaced by coach for part of the journey, uncomfortable as no seats available on the train... it won't be my transport of choice again.

Helen Simmons, Norfolk, UK

New motorways & main roads are not the answer. The noise pollution extends miles from main routes - it would turn the country into a living hell. And the new roads would very soon fill up with traffic. The real problem is that this country is very much over-populated. Solution anyone?

Dave, Wrexham,

Nu labour wants the peasants off the road, but their dilemma is they want the taxes raised from motorists more. In recent months fuel prices have risen from approx 80p/litre to £1.05 with the government receiving approx 17p extra per litre from this massive increase. We will shortly be giving a £1 for every litre we put in “at what should be renamed TAX STATIONS “to Nu Labour to squander. Nu Labour is cutting services in every direction, so the chances of improving the roads are nil. Tax and waste is the motto of their rebranded communism, without accountability which is proved nearly daily. I have a bus pass, but no bus therefore need a car to go anywhere, unless of course Nu Labour think I should be isolated in my home, and subsequently vegetate and die. Of course this would fit their agenda of having contributed and then being a good peasant passing on prematurely without costing the state much.

Michael, Sheffield,

This is hardly surprising. The population has increased by 2 million in the last ten years, the housing price boom has led to many people splashing out on new cars, and public transport is still rubbish.

Mr B, Leicester,

I can't be the only person who is unable to use public transport in London because of FEAR. I have a problem with claustrophobia and cannot use a Tube because it may stop in a tunnel, I cannot use a train because of the airless, over-heated, over-crowded and sealed conditions and i cannot use the new buses because they are similarly airless and sealed. I don't have the same problem in other countries. Give me a car any day!

A Basilena, London,

After taking 45 minutes to drive 5 miles this afternoon at school pick up time I say all school children should go to their local school and they should walk there if it is under 1 mile (longer for older children). This will reduce traffic and carbon emmissions considerably. It may also do something for the nations health as well.

Brenda, Boreham Wood, UK

This country once ruled an empire. Now it cannot even organise its own domestic travel requirements. What a galling reflectionon the quality of our rulers.

BFM, Stamford, UK

I am tired,like many others, of writers who talk about congestion charges and the like,as if that was any kind of solution to the bleak future that all of we motorists face in this dispiriting counry.All such measures would do is to further impoverish the public without achieving any amelioration of the traffic problems.Clearly, the only answer is to take public transport back into public ownership,and ,through its cheapness,convenience and reliability,persuade the public that it would be better to use it rather than their cars.Visit Spain and France,for example,where it is a joy to use public transport. It is all too late -would take too long to implement ,and won't happen until desperate measures are called for to ensure economic survival.When it comes to 'green' motives for travel,people always vote with their feet,or as happens now,with their cars when it comes to their personal inconvenence.Congestion charges will not affect the wealthy : the poor will continue to get poorer.

pete clarke, wareham, dorset

I would love to use public transport. As i live in a rural area buses only run every 2 hours and finish at about 7 in the evening , no bus service on a Sunday. i did actually phone the bus company to find details out about prices times etc. But they couldnt be bothered to call back. My daughter goes to school about 1 mile from our house, but as there is no pavements to the school and the road is 60mph. I would love to know how we could walk when it is nearly the speed limit of the motorway and at places like a narrow country lane. Amazingly dangerous when the articulated lorries go down which is on a regular basis due to fact that we are one of the routes to the sea ports.
I do get angry at people who come from the local town and all need to come by car when they could share the school run.
Perhaps it is time we were not so materially driven in this country. Then we wouldnt need to import so many goods here cutting back the number of foreign lorries on our roads.

liz hobbs , leaveland , kent

Love the comment Jack O' Hanlon. My sentiment exactly.
Oh and the last bit that I wasn't able to add was about the lorries. perhaps it is time the foreign lorries had to pay towards our transport system. After all as we all know the sheer weight causes so much damage to the rds. And what do they pay. Nothing they fuel up before they come over to avoid the petrol tax. Don't pay towards road tax. No toll charges. And what about when operation stack happens because the french ports are on strike yet again. Isn;t it about time they contributed something or didn't drive on our roads.

liz hobbs , leaveland , kent

The argument that if we could only spend a bit more on public transport then people would all suddenly switch from using their cars really is ludicrous. Travelling by public transport can never in any way compare to using your own car. In many areas and in many situations public transport is not a serious option.
One key problem is that there has been no serious attempt, at least in Somerset / the South West, to improve the roads. Many of the A-roads here are little more than lanes and have not changed since I have lived here. This is quite crazy. Roads are the arteries of the country and it is shameful that we have not upgraded them.
Congestion charging is also quite wrong - it simply prices the poorer motorist off the road. The London charge has also not worked.
Cars are freedom and congestion charging is just another way in which the state merely wants to further reduce you to a tax-paying, state controlled zombie.

Charles, Bath, UK

How much more evidence does the government need before it goes ahead with congestion charging? We live in a country which mostly relies on the market to allow people to decide whether their need for a particular product or service is worth the price, but when it comes to scarce road space we leave "rationing" to the old-fashioned method of queueing. Of course, the proceeds of charging should not be lost in government coffers but applied directly to improving public transport, not only so there's less excuse for driving but to reward the many, often forgotten, who all along have been helping by not using cars.

Barry, Wallington, UK

The fact that there are three or four million people more in the UK than ten years ago might just have something to do with conjestion on the roads. Its only going to get much worse, Britain is just over crowded.

Chris, Woodbridge, Suffolk

Facinating. I moved to Sweden a few years ago. I live 20 miles north of the city. For the princely sum of 40 pounds I can buy a month travel card, that allows me to travel any where up to 50 miles south, and north of the center. Using local train services, the underground and the bus.
I can leave a club/ pub, at any hour of the night, from midnight, till 5 inthe morning , and from Stockholm center, catch a bus which delivers me to within 200 yds of my house. The other hours are served by the train service. 7 days a week and extra services at Xmas and new year. OK there are only 1 million people working in Stockholm, and we do have slow slow moving queues at rush hours, The services are run by private tender, and if they fall below par, are replaced.
the thought of traveling in UK , after 10 years of this, would fill me with dread.
I guess there is an element of state subsidy, the calls for free travel are constant, but it works and sooner or later we all pay .

alan mcrae , Stockholm, Sweden

The real problem is that cars are too "cheap" relatively, compared to what they used to be in relation to incomes. What is needed is a huge tax at first UK registration to discourage purchase in the first place. This would address the continuing growing numbers. It all very well saying "restrict use", but where are the ever increasing numbers of vehicles going to park? Or are we all meant to buy ever increasing numbers of cars, ever more frequently and then not use them!! Buying less new cars (and maximising the lifetime of existing ones) is also "greener" , taking into account actual production instead of just "usage". Since we don`t really have much of a car industry left any more it might also cut the number of imports and help the balance of of payments of the country. Once we stop the numbers growing it is much easier to then tackle congestion. Losers - new car salesmen and people who expect brand new cars for peanuts and change them every year. Same tax principle as on fags!!

Jim, Herts,

I,am english living in Switzerland, the public transport here makes the UK's look like a third world country. They have recently passed a law stating that all frieght must go by rail. if only we had good enough infrastructure in the UK to make a bold decision and get all the lorrys off the roads.

On top of that the trains, trams, and buses are always on time and run every ten minutes. And i pay 50 pound a month for my travel pass and can get anywhere.

The UK public transport system was never going to work after it was privatised. It turned from a PUBLIC service into a profit making exercise which translates to profits before anything else, it was never designed to be a money making service, hence the name PUBLIC transport, what do we pay our taxes for?

It saddens me but i think it will get worse until we have a leader bold enough to invest huge amounts into rail infrastructure. either that or re-nationalise the service. Maybe then the M6 won't look like a car park anymore.

Dippy, Ex pat, Zurich, Switzerland

25 percent of all the cars on the road at any time are driving less than 2 miles. I would guess that 100 percent of drivers do it too. I did before I gave up my car.

I was forced to give up my car 6 months ago, which was a pain at first. It has taken a while but I am finding ways to get round most problems of not having a car. Supermarkets can deliver food,I walk or cycle most places (it only takes 12 minutes to do 2 miles) and I get buses and trains.

There are problems , for example out of town shopping was designed for car users and I would be need to carshare if I needed to commute further to work.

I now have the choice of getting a car again but i don't think I will. I am saving a fortune, i have not been this fit in years and I have found solutions to getting around without it.

Without being forced to give it up though i would still be driving everywhere above 1/2 a mile, and i think thats the key. Without some sort of persuasion most people would be the same.

Gary , Northwich, Cheshire

25 percent of all cars on the round are people on journeys under 2 miles... No wonder are we have an obesity problem and our roads are clogged up.

Gary , Northwich, Cheshire

Make public transport good, reliable and affordable and people will use it

Rob, Wallasey,

A colleague of mine has just bought a new house. After 6 months, he still hasn't sold his old house, and the costs so far are equal to a year's pay.

I recently contacted a jobs agency who made it quite clear that they wouldn't talk to me unless I considered anything within 50 miles of my home.

If I use the train to travel to work, I would spend 6 hours a day travelling to and from work.

Hardly surprising to find that I use a car to get to work. If petrol/diesel go up any more, it'll be a motorbike, any more than that and I'll be cycling to the job centre.

Rob, Wirral, UK

Britain has more cars per motorway mile than any EU-25 nation, the UK has lower car ownership rates than many European nations but worse congestion. So said an RAC Foundation report last year. We have one motorway mile to Germany's two so would need to double the length of motorway in this country even to get on a parr with Germany. That is the problem and the answer is to build more roads. The government is awash with cash from motorists so the money is there. Trouble is it is channeled off into other areas like £80m per year for Highways Agency patrols which just make the problem worse by shutting the few motorways we have at the drop of a hat.

Another quote from the RAC Foundation report which pretty well sums it up: "Rather than the UK network competing in the Champions League with France or Germany, it is in the lower divisions with Lithuania, Slovakia and Hungary. Congestion and unreliable travel times affect the UK's economic competitiveness and quality of life. "

Simon, Chatham,

This & previous governments have built our domestic commercial & social infrastructure in such a way that the UK population live in one place, work in another &, socialise in another. Everyday people need to travel to work, travel home, travel to the shops, cinemas or to meet friends. With the cuts in service, hiked up prices & inflexible/indirect routes of public transport along with the inconvenience of having to use a bus/train as a family with small children, is it any wonder people are still using cars even when governments artificially hike up Road & Fuel taxes?

For my wife son & I to travel 7 miles to our local city in the car it would cost us around £4.00 for all day with the flexibility of carrying shopping in the back & leaving when we choose. That same journey on public transport would be over twice the cost & be a logistic nightmare catching buses, juggling shopping, babies & pushchairs.

GOVERNMENTS: Stop penalising motorists until you offer reastic alternatives!

Conrad, Newcastle, Tyne & Wear

With a population density amongst the highest in the world alongside 26.5 million cars is it any wonder that the roads are gridlocked and public transport paralysed?

Frank Greaney, Formby Liverpool,

The issues are complex but people do not take public transport because it is unreliable, too expensive, under funded, dangerous (especially for children and women), and infrequent at best.
Combine this with the fact that the English build out of town shopping centres, retail parks, etc often where a delivery service is expensive, and incapable of giving you a delivery time outside of morning or afternoon, and you see why people are forced into their cars.
Cycling on Britains roads is downrigt dangerous, and ignored by the government. We need to redevelope the inner cities which are often out of bounds to decent folk, encourage local shops and amenities which people can visit easily on foot (safely) or safely by bike. Move away from the American concept of driving everywhere, bulk buying at the out of town supermarket, driving the kids to school, etc. Building communities would go along way in reducing traffic

Matt Clark, Tokyo, Japan

I believe the government could put effort into working with companies nationally to reduce the effects of the '9 to 5' arrangement. If more could be done to create an '8/10 to 4/6' culture the country would benefit a great deal. .

Kerry Suffell, Whittle Le Woods, Chorley, UK

A revolutionary programme of new motorways and roads, new railways, stations and places to park - all that is required if the costs of congestion are not to cripple the economy and destroy our quality of life. Nor can we disappoint the millions of hard-working immigrants who will expect to be able to share our way of life. And to get people out of existing ghettos to experience the English way of life, and England, transport is needed. New methods of public transport, and the re-opening of old rail tracks in some form, are needed too but cannot do the whole job. The car is here to stay. Of all transport it offers the most protection from crime to the fearful. In the countryside it is essential. Farmland is no longer a profitable attraction to farming communities, now threatened with massive new housing. Roads and railways are required to serve them. Head-in-the-sand and a public transport fetish attitude get the country nowhere. Congestion produces considerable tax revenues!

Austin, Bristol, UK

The answer is obvious - build more roads and expand existing roads.

Geoff Hinds, York,

I do wish my two neighbours would use public transport to work because I am invariably late at the office because of nose to tale traffic with one neighbour at the front and the other at the back. I would catch the train, but its a long walk
to the station and the train either doesn't turn up (no crew) or is late (relief crew). When it does arrive on time there are too many passengers for two seats - a sort of 'passenger seat inflation' Good God what am I saying.

Rodney Barker, Gainsborough, England UK

People want to go by car. Get used to it you Greens. Who wants to wait in the rain for a crowded bus, then wait for a late train, then lug their rshopping around with them? People want to go by car from door to door. This is a democracy and we should aim to make it easier for people to do what they want to do.

Improve the roads, cut tax on fuel (70% of the price is tax) and offer huge tax incentives for firms that introduce flextime and home working.

But get used to the idea that people want to go by car and live with it!

Roger Tilbury, Worthing,

JC, bedford, what a load of old tosh. I work in London and am paid bugger all even though i am fully qualified. Why, they say experiance, but i do the same as everyone else. I cant afford to live in London. I rent in Kent and commute every day. I'm in my twenty's i have suffered from an overpriced undervalued education, i pay an obscene amount of car insurance, even though i have 7 yrs ncb, i cant afford to live in the city where i was born and now you are saying i should be taxed for this. What a load of rubbish.

On the main subject, public transport is not an option. Pick a day of the week, go to bethnal green station and replace evey person there with a sheep. let them get on the train with all the other sheep and just see how long it takes the 'save the earth' croud to put down their cut emmisions signs and rally to save the sheep. Humans though can suffer these conditions, why? because we choose to get on the train. RUBBISH. I've made my choice, its parked outside...

Grant, London,

Yes indeed, Prescott has failed to improve public transport. The problem is not only bad public transport, but bad road and rail networks, which go hand in hand. Who wants to wait for an hour for a bus service that will take them as close as 500 yards from thier front door, when a car can get them to the front door quicker.

When we pay so much on our Taxes, it does not surprise that that money is being wasted on some new sceme in London, such as the Dome, Congestion charge, the Eye...... Need I go on. I'm sure all the big wags in Downing Street can say they paid for all of this with thier own money?

Allan Dawes, Lowton, Warrington, Cheshire

Since 1997 this government have screwed up pensions, transport, education and immigration. Perhaps if the government spent less on diversity coordinators, policy think tanks, health and safety, regional development agencies, and got people doing useful jobs where they actually do things rather than sitting in talking shops we might be better off.

Dennis, Dorset,

why can't we simply banned HGVs, LGVs, white van man and make our kids walk to school banning the school runs during peak times (rush hours), surely this will ease the flow of traffic on the roads.

this has already been proposed by Jeremy Clarkson!!

Tad, SCOTLAND,

Here living on the nose to tail traffic jammed A57/A628 Mottram-Tintwistle roads, North East of Manchester, we have been forced to wait for over 20 years for an extension of the M67 to be carried out.
Every day and night, trucks and cars in the traffic jams, waste hours and fuels, pumping carbon into the air.
While local children cower from the traffic as they walk to school, breathing the fume filled air.
For over twenty years we have been promised this needed Bypass. Yet it is still delayed by the inept Secretary of State for Transport.

Thomas Rowland, Mottram, Cheshire

Huge rise in population, should be the headline.
The government seems unable to grasp the fact that Britain is small, whilst presiding over continental proportion immigration.
But its not all the governments fault many people still drive short distances to work or the shops.

wayne, huntingdon, cambridgeshire

Ever-increasing traffic levels are a self-fulfilling prophesy in country areas, as the greater numbers of cars on the road make it more and more unpleasant and dangerous to walk or cycle.

Where we lived in rural Somerset, the short walk to our local primary school was a 100 yard take-your-life-in-your-hands route march along a footpath-less rural rat-run.

Cars sped past myself and my two boys, aged 3 and 5, like we were a mobile chicane !

Of course, this meant that it was safer to put them in a car and drive there !

How ridiculous is that ?

The U.K.s' stupid over-reliance on the car was one of the major reasons we emigrated.

Nick Cummings, Bundaberg, Australia

Motorists are lunatics. Why would any sane person wish to use a car when roads are littered with potholes and crowded with angry frustrated motorists? They should be more responsible and choose to give up work and stay at home, or catch a crowded train where fares annually increase by far more than inflation. It's all the fault of motorists; this far sighted government struggles so manfully to help us help ourselves from the perils of global warming and we just do not get it.
(PS How do the extra 700,000 civil servants created by Gordon Broon get to work?)

TG, Newark,

Two accidents in as many weeks on the A303. Traffic diverted off onto the A343 - a country road through tiny villages with very steep hills. Lorries thundering through every 20 seconds for hours on end.
Development of a Tesco Megashed development at Andover, spilling lorries at the rate of 3500 more movements a day onto the A303. If there was an accident, are all these lorries going to be re-routed through the same village roads? God help us! Why can't the planners see further than the application papers?

Jan, Andover, Hampshire

So road use has increased by 12% and rail use by 40%. surely this suggests people are using public transport more? Fact is that if we want to generate a higher economic output, we have to do / produce more. Inevitably this means some increase in traffic - we haven't got an entirely 'virtual' society.

Paul, Manchester, England

Couldn't agree more with David from Melbourne. Having lived and been on holiday in a number of continental countries, the price of public transport here in the UK is higher than anywhere I have been so far.

Robert, Reading, Berkshire

local bus cost of a 14ml journey £4-25 one way, time 1hr. cost in car £6-00, time 30mins. so for two people making the journey car wins. make public transport cheaper more people will use it.

Phil Barnes, preston, england

What a surprise - public transport is either non-existent, or obscenely overcrowded, over-priced and unreliable. People still need to get to their workplace, and not all employers are not able or willing to agree to 'home working' - mine have repeatedly refused such requests. Fewer and fewer people live within walking or cycling range of their workplaces. Increasingly food and other essentials come from out of town superstores.

How else does the government expect us to go about our daily business and keep the economy working - grow wings and fly?

Over the last 6 years I slowly had to increase the time I allow for what was originally a 20 minute commute to 45 minutes due to road congestion. Of course, I could take the unreliable, overcrowded & erratic bus service which involves a major detour in the wrong direction and a non-connecting 2nd service - but that costs more than the current petrol & car maintenance costs and take 2 hours each way. Not a hard decision to make.

Luke, Reading, Berkshire

I travel on the train systems into London every day. They are overcrowded, expensive and inefficient. Many times I have been told that the train is delayed or cancelled because there are no staff. The most bizarre episode was recently at Ascot station when a service to London was cancelled and then the same train rolled through the crowded station completely empty in order to be in London for the return trip! As for the Tube, it defies belief

The Government has no transport policy.

Ed, Guildford, UK

I think we've proved you can't price people off the roads. The simple facts are these:
To get to work ten miles away takes me twenty minutes by car or forty five by bus. To get the kids to childcare needs me to walk one half a mile one way and the other a mile back the other. There are no other options. To use public transport I'd need to cut my hours which isn't practical given the increases in fuel and food costs, let alone the intrest rate rises the BOE has used to try and calm the hedge funders love of extra houses. I know Gordy doesn't use that as a figure - but the true rate of inflation to me is around 15% since he got in.
It's time to say public transport isn't working and look instead at boosting home working. Newcastles trying it and they think it improves staff morale and actually helps their workers social lives. Around two thirds of people don't actually need to travel to an office. So why make them? Answers on a postcard please as this Government wont listen.

James, Glasgow,

It would be interesting to compare the traffic growth with the population growth over the same period per county. Not that I live in that part of Somerset now but the huge growth of Weston super Mare as a dormitory town for Bristol will have a fairly large contribution to traffic growth in that area.

Mark, Ilminster, Somerset

In my case the use of public transport is possible for my commute into London, however, by train it costs approx £10 and tales 120 minutes in the morning and 80 in the evening (walking the mile to the station and the a mile to work, plus a 30 minute wait for a connection). By car it costs about the same (at £1.05 per litre) and takes 30 minutes. On good days I bike, 50 minutes each way. no cost.

Barry Samways, London, UK

Simple. Get the untaxed, uninsured and/or unroadworthy vehicles off the road. That'll make room as well as getting the great unwashed to use the unavailable public transport. Win-win.

laurence, Brisbane,

Increase in population increase in car usage....it really is that simple!

Public transport, in my opinion, although related is a different issue.

David , Cheltenham,

I drive across London every day (18 miles each way, South to North and back again). I thought it would be a good idea to drive to a station (the buses are useless) and get a train and then tube, however Lewisham council has a max car parking policy of six hours and the rail co has no car park. Err...so I can't. I tried explaining that a small car journey and then public transport was "better" than a big car journey, but "they" weren't having it. 4 wheels bad, wholegrain carrots good etc. As a side note, if they can find all that tar to create speed bumps why can't they use some of it to fill the potholes?

Neil, Lonodn,

Believe me, I don't want to be part of the problem. I've recently starting working in Manchester and I have never seen such staggering volumes of traffic and delays. In fact, it's so bad that I'm already making efforts to move to a job away from the city because, as yet, my company will not permit me to work from home full-time even though the infrastructure exists to support it. But there's the thing - our jobs market is so city-centric that many of us don't have the option but to work in these traffic hotspots even if we don't want to.

Secondly, the difference between term time and times when schools are on holiday is immense - SURELY somebody must realise that by staggering school and office hours the traffic relief would be significant.

There are more people in this country than ever, and we have to work to feed ourselves and pay our mortgages and, in so doing, contribute to Gordon Brown's much-touted economy. And in the majority of cases, we simply have no choice.

Mark Thomas, Biddulph, UK

For a few weeks after it opened the M6 Toll road did what it was intended to do - took traffic off the M5/M6 link which was the most heavilly congested motorway area in Europe. For those few weeks it was like going back 25 years.
We were led to believe that it was all private money that built it. This is untrue because millions in public funds was spent on land surveys and acquision. It was then built and handed over to an Australian group who immediately securitized future income to pay their shareholders a massive dividend.
It's use ( or lack of it ) was, I believe, deliberately controlled by the owners by pricing out many prospective users. Having securitized the income there is no incentive for them to do otherwise than protect their road to extend it's life and reduce maintenance costs.
The consequence? M5/M6 is now more congested than ever and gets worse every day. The M6 toll operators solution? Put up the prices yet again.
The Government must act now to change this.

Andy Williams, Cradley Heath, England

Whether you're a government minister in charge of transport policy or a whinging motorist, the same rule applies: failure to take action represents an acceptance of the status quo.

If everyone continues to chose to drive, then the congestion problem cannot be solved, no matter how many new roads are built.

The only solution is for people to chose not to drive. Change jobs or move house. Either way, get closer to your place of work and you won't need to drive. Anyone living within 5 miles of their place of work should get their bike out and cycle - as I do.

Erik, Gatwick, UK

No doubt this is linked to the huge immigration issue. Most arrivals are of working age, whereas most departees are the retired. Net result: more rush hour congestion.

Chris M, London, UK

How about a law bringing in the option of working from home for those workers who can. Most employers simply play lip service to working from home. Most managers like to be able see their workers working; they simply don't trust their staff to work from home.

Michael Woods, Chorley,

The motoring lobby is the most feared and reactionary in the country wedded to the notion that it has the inalianable right to travel. The transport industry's response has been to ditch public service obligations, ratchet up fares and spend hundreds of millions saving 20 mins on a trip to Paris. Cheap travel like cheap food and the rest of it is now history and we'd better used to the idea of paying more and more for less and less. 'Is your journey really necessary?' should be the new mantra

Ray Cobbett, Emsworth. Hampshire,

This feels like the start of another campaign to introduce road taxing/congestion charging on all UK roads as a solution to the problem.

Simple approach: continually highlight the issue and then introduce congestion charging as the best solution in an effort to make it palatable among the masses.

Just remember, London congestion charging has moved from trying to manage down the amount of traffic flowing through the centre of London - which at first it was successful at, until the shock value of paying to drive into a zone wore off - to purely an environmental tax within a wider geographical area, aimed more at raising revenue than protecting the environment.

Matthew, London,

"While rail travel has grown by 40 per cent in the past decade, this has done little to ease the pressure on roads." This is clearly a false statement. Take these extra people off the trains and put them in cars and the roads would immediately move from 'heavily congested' to 'gridlock'. The only way to ease problems for drivers is to greatly increase the investment in public transport to persuade more drivers to leave the car at home for their daily commute.

Ian H., Coventry, UK

Every reason I have read in the comments for car use is only there BECAUSE of the car. It is no good buying a car, then taking a job 45 miles away because you can, and then saying "I need a car".

We used to live near work and near shops and near relatives. Journeys were short and cheap. Public transport worked because people largely travelled in the same direction to and from similar places.

The car changed all that. We live all over the place, work all over the place, do exactly what we want with no thought for the consequences to society. Public transport no longer works. Communities are blighted by traffic. It is always someone else's fault, never ours. Some people here are blaming immigrants for their own car use!

I think a £5 litre might make a difference. Combined with getting rid of VED so that motorists can stop claiming they own the roads. A change in attitudes is needed, unless it is already too late and we are the most selfish generation this country has ever seen.

Jon D, Gloucestershire, Gloucestershire

Just don't sell so many Cars,4 x 4's or Vans - Owners should be made to keep their vehicles for 5 years or more. Such a simple solution, but of course the foreign manufacturers such as GM, Ford and Toyota have a stranglehold on our pathetic Government. David Smith, Cannes

David Smith, Cannes, France

We wouldn't have this problem if someone invented an alternative mode of transport. What ever happened to the hover boards that we were promised in Back to the Future II.

Oliver, Sevenoaks, Kent

I made a return journey to the West country with my family of four. I spent £64 on deisel fuel. The Train fare would have been £132 for each of us. Case closed.

Anthony Box, Wretton, Norfolk GB

Cromwell of Leeds's comments about migrants expanding the volume of cars on the road hits the nail on the head. This is not a "Brits in love their cars" issue; it's all to do with immigration - the largest affect of which has been to rural areas.

Richardson, Bristol, England

I would love not to use my car every day but it is the ONLY way I can get to work that doesn't involve me leaving the house two hours earlier and having to using a combination of trains, buses and taxis. Add to the inconvenience the fact that the bus system doesn't work and the trains are now so expensive that it even makes financial sense for me to drive and you'll see that drivers are stuck either way. We don't want to pay through the nose for petrol or drive on congested roads but the alternatives offered by public transport aren't exactly appealing either. Unless you live in London public transport is appalling and as a woman I wouldn't feel safe using it either.

GT, Oxford,

The key is in efficient use of cars, and providing integration in transport options. There are many car sharing and car club options now, with most offering discounts on public transport as a reward for those using alternatives to their personal car. There has to be the combination of the carrot, making it easy and cheaper to make better decisions about how to travel, as well as the stick, making traveling on road expensive and unattractive. The options are much better within cities, and public transport clearly needs improving, but individuals and companies can choose to do things differently. It is getting easier to make better choices.

Liz, Leeds,

I had to use publice transport recently and vowed never again to repeat the experience. After a 10 minute walk in the rain followed by 20 mins.standing in a cold vandalised bus shelter,with the remains of something someone had thrown up last night,the bus arrived, The unfriendliness of the driver when I asked a question about the route had to be seen to be believed.Then of course,people coughing and sneezing down my neck when I sat in the one seat that was available made me pine for the luxury of my car.I feel so sorry for people who have to use public transport in this country as you are treated like cattle and have to pay the earth for the priviledge.

Mike, Dunstable, England

This proves beyond a doubt that the more roads you build, the more people will drive, and that the only way we'll ever get traffic-jam free driving is when petrol prices get prohibitively high. The idea that we can solve this by building more motorways is a complete joke. They'll just fill with traffic like everywhere else.
The government needs to make huge investments in public transport and look at ways to make our infrastructure less car-dependent. Tax breaks for city centre shops and dis-incentives to out-of-town hypermarkets would help.

Richard Milne, Edinburgh,

What 'public transport'? Trains more often than not are either cancelled or run late, making it impossible to get to meetings on time. It's all the more galling when you've paid the car park fee and then have to go back and drive.

People might be more inclined to use public transport if it was RELIABLE, on-time and reasonably priced.

And the railway answer to the problem: send a man out to do a survey, cancel most of the peak time trains, watch the numbers using the service diminish . . . One can only conclude that the final outcome will be to cut the service.

Fiona, Siston, South Glos

As long as 'public' transport (run by the private sector) is regarded as a business rather than an essential social service, the situation will not improve. Unprofitable routes are simply axed or heavily curtailed, and the car is the only alternative. The present government seems to have no viable strategic plan for transport but carries on patching it up rather than trying to help people move around quickly, efficiently and cheaply.

Nicholas Lee, Windsor, UK

Xenophobes corner! So the answer is stop immigration and that will cure our traffic problems. It would certainly ease traffic in rural Cambridgeshire, with no one working in the fields, picking the vegetables or salad crops. Shame about all those extra trucks on the trunk roads bringing them in from Europe.

And for all those city people who think there is no public transport in the more rural areas, we have a good service into our main city, Cambridge. Cheaper than driving and parking your car. Oh, and by the way, it didn't exist when bus services were mainly provided by large nationalised companies.

John, St Ives, Cambs, UK

people should be taxed on how far they live from their work place, with the money raised distributed to subsidise public transport and the road system. It would be much easier to implement than road pricing, and would encourage decentralisation and town living.

JC, bedford,

Increased congestion being caused by the councils obstucting traffic wherever possible. eg new traffic lights in perth have caused more congestion also bus lanes doubling congestion.In parts of Holland they are removing traffic lights resulting in less congestion and fewer accidents.Common sense is increasingly absent in our elected dictatorship.

s barker, perth,

The government will prop up a failed bank to the tune of billions of pounds of taxpayers money, but when it comes to constructive policies to help the taxpayers in their daily life they havent got a clue.

Louis Blanc, Liverpool, Merseyside

We need more motorways. The greens say that our countryside is being buried under concrete - rubbish. Have they ever been a plane? from 20,000 ft it is not possible to even see the M6 in daytime.
Take a look at a map of the UK and Europe with motorways highlighted in red - the difference in road density is quite obvious and we are losing out.

tony , birmingham, uk

Isn't this also tied in to the amount of inward migration to this country? You see a lot more foreign plates and left hand drives on the roads these days.

WA, Oxford, England

Actually 12% growth over 10 years is quite modest. If it were not for home working and the broadband revolution it might be much more. also the number of families where both people work has added to the burden on our roads. The rise in rail prices is not helping. I now look to drive into London because the cost of fuel, congestion charge and parking is cheaper than a train ticket.

Tony Seaton, Southampton, Hants

Decades and decades of mis management by successive governments it is THEY who have let us down roads and public transport could have been state of the art if only we had had ministers and governments who were capable.

The name Prescott comes up in this article that really says it all, a former steward on a ship for christs sake!

Japan Bullet train, China maglev UK slam door trains !

Robin Hunter, Sutton, UK

I would love to drive less but my son living 80 miles away & my job as a highways engineer in Outer London mean I'm on the road more now than ever before. Indeed, I try to make no unnecessary journeys at all in the car as I would rather walk just to take a break from driving!

Public transport is appalling. Living in London one doesn't have to worry too much about timetables as, emergencies excepted, there's usually another train, tube or bus along soon but the experience of travelling this way is not a particularly pleasant one, especially on the buses.
Big groups of kids hopping on & off buses for one stop & generally using them as playgrounds being a big factor in this, as dear old Ken saw fit to give all the little darlings free travel. Make them pay something & see a drop in crime figures & an improvement in time keeping!

As for people in rurual areas, they simply do not have a public transport alternative, they have to drive to get anywhere or get anything done.

David, London,

For everyone stuck in a queue, there is a simple solution, it's called a motorbike.

Richard, Edinburgh, UK

What Public Transport?

Peter, Camberley, UK

If you take commuting into London as an example, the best way is by train, but what do you find, that they are unreliable, overcrowded and far too expensive. The government is useless, clueless and devoid of ideas; the train companies are laughing all the way to the bank while extorting every penny they can from the the public. God help us all.

John, London, UK

Traffic continues to rise despite the additional costs and frustrations. Doesn't this tell our politicians something? We're not all out there on pleasure trips -- we're travelling because we have to!

Travelling for work is what keeps the GDP growing. If the government thinks that road tolling will reduce congestion, it's really saying that it's happy to see GDP decline. Perhaps it is, as long as the additional tax from tolling makes up for the reduction in other areas?

Don't worry, though. I feel a recession coming on. That will see traffic reduced. And no doubt the government will claim the credit for this as well!

Peter Ward, Warwick, UK

Before people will even consider giving up driving, there needs to be a resonablr priced, reliable, convenient, integrated public transport system. This is not currently the case and, as long as public transport remains deregulated, there will not be. Public transport needs to be seen as a public service. It needs to be properly regulated, with routes planned in order to make it available to as many people as possible at the times required. Only then will people even begin to look at it as an alternative to driving.

At the moment the government is using increasing motoring taxes as a way of raising additional revenue whilst pretending it is to try and reduice congestion and pollution. If they were serious on this point they would also be addressing the issuer of providing alternative means of transport.

Richard, Greater Manchester,

I pay approximately £45 a month standing charges for my car (Tax & insurance)... and I'm able to use it at a moment's notice to do trips anywhere and carry some pretty large loads... for which I'm only paying for the petrol on top... It costs £15 a week for a bus pass which would enable me to travel to work... It takes two changes and some 50 minutes each way to do a journey that takes me 15 minutes in the car... as I value my free time (sitting on a bus doesn't count as free time, I can tell you) it's a no-brainer as the yanks put it... to spend £40 a week for "commuting" petrol as opposed to spending some £60 a month for a bus pass and still have to pay £45 a month for the standing charges on the car... I'm already paying for the car, why use the bus? Buses are crap for shopping trips and visiting my daughters, you're limited to what you can physically carry and severely restricted as to when and where you can travel... (the bus to my daughter's village only does one trip a day)

paulc, gloucester,

At least the government has been consistant with its transport policies, consistantly failing. How can we expect fair fuel prices and sufficient investment in roads in a country where you get 2 years in prison for useing a phone while driving but only a 12 month community sentance for stoneing a man (who was just playing cricket with his son) to death. Where are peoples priorities?

I fear for a country whos government appears only to excel by outdoing its own incompetence time and time again. While they are blinded by the threat of extreamist musilm groups, it is the extreamist right wing political parties creaping through the back door that i fear the most. This government only provides them with ammunition. Labour have weaved their own rope and tied the noose, i only hope someone wakes up before they hang themselves......

Grant, London,

The Road Fund Tax raises something like 40 billion pounds a year, less than seven billion is spent on the roads. If the government were to stop misappropriating those funds and spend them on what they were intended for we would have the best road system in the world and no congestion. Any prospective M.P. who guarantees that his government will do that will get my vote. Any businessman who was to misappropriate funds in such a manner would end up behind bars.

John , March,, Cambs.

I would have loved to leave my car at home over the Christmas - New Year holiday. Where were the trains?

At night there is only a driver on the trains who will have been instructed by the union not to leave the cab in the event of trouble and most stations are unmanned. How very attractive for women and the elderly.

BJ, London,

This is a problem. We all suffer from the effects of motor vehicles and building more roads and facilities only encourages more road use. A ration imposed on fuel use would encourage people to buy smaller cars and be more thoughtful about using them, it would also give those who under use their vehicles a compensation payment if they are allowed to sell their share to heavy users. It would also help to half the size of goods vehicles which would have the effect of doubling transport costs thereby discouraging some of the unneccessary movement of goods on our roads. Failing that lets have a vote to turn our country over to unregulated car use as many seem to be calling for but make sure all those voting in favour have to give up the right to protest when new roads are built close to their homes or if one of their loved ones is killed by a speeding motorist.

Clive Stringer, Eggesford, Devon

Has anyone actually tried public transport?
i tried it for a few days over christmas, it took two hours to get to town and back (about a 15 minute drive) and cost me 7 quid, why on earth would I do it again?

Sarah, Bristol,

Another factor, albeit one of many that this government have failed to solve, is that the increase in house prices and penal rates of stamp duty mean that people have little real option but to travel further rather than move closer to there place of work.

Fred, Manchester, Greater Manchester

I use public transport on a daily basis to commute from Wokingham to London; no problems there (except the low quality of service) but my wife is forced to take the car to commute to her work in Bracknell.

Consider this: for a 7-mile commute, the bus takes 50 minutes plus a 20-minute walk while the car takes 15 minutes door to door.

There is simply no alternative to driving when outside London. This government has failed to understand that most people will quite happilly use public transport, if there is one. Then again, more cars on the road translates to more revenue...

Emmanuel, Berkshire, UK

Unfortunatly, the government talks about green targets and a move to public transport, but fail to deliver a coherent strategy to deliver it. With rail firms and bus companies (seen as the answer to road congestion) able to implement huge fare increases, cut services (especially in rural areas) and have poor time-keeping, all with little control from the government- no wonder we get in our cars.

The government need to reinvest in the network in a common sense and UK wide manner, perhaps capping fares for busses and trails to a set cost per mile, and reimbursing the bus company the difference. A standardised 'fare' could be set and then adjusted each year much like council tax is based on 1991 house prices. Invest in park and ride schemes and bring back trams for all city's and large towns.

Rather than bring on board a new raft of 'think-tanks' and commitees, a team only needs to visit our European neighbours (Holand, Belgium, Germany) to see how it should be done.

K Charles-Neale, Hastings, Somerset

The real reason for the traffic conjestion, along with the overloading of all public services in this country is the governments insane desire to increase the population with mass immigration. This is because size of population gives more power to the government within the EU. We are heading for disaster if nothing is done to seriously limit and slow down the rapid rise in immigration.

Robin, Leicester, UK

These figures forget to include the fact that thepopulation of the country is rising. Question is - is the number of cars rising at a greater rate than the population. In Peteborough there are a lot of cars with Lithuanian, Polish, Slovakian and good ness knows what else number plates. Are these cars coming up on the givernment stats?
And, to sound off, the givernment can "entreat" as much as they want, until they re-nationalise the rail and buses and make the service reasonable and prices affordable people will use their cars.

Andrew McCaughtrie, Peterborough,

Roll on peak oil.

Stuart, Manchester, England

No wonder people are driving.
A government which claims to want people to use public transport continues to grossly underinvest in the necessary infrastructure