For years we've had worries about too many cars.
Now there will not be the oil to fuel large volumes of traffic in the future.
Already people are getting out of their cars and finding other ways to travel. In an AA poll a third had decided to travel less by car.
Government figures have alrea
dy shown car traffic falling by two per cent.
It's fallen five per cent in the States. Rail and bus companies have seen trade increase between four and five per cent.
Decisions on road building will no longer be based on an oil price of up to $70 a barrel.
Furthermore, road work is very, very sensitive to the price of oil. Asphalt costs have doubled in the past 10 years. Affordability, not traffic congestion, will soon become the key to transport planning.
Will our policy makers recognise this reality before it's too late to avoid a public infrastructure crisis?
Faced with the choice between filling up the car or putting food on the table, people will ask why there are insufficient buses and affordable trains to get to and from work.
We must accept the reality of rising oil prices, start making intelligent decisions and fund the most appropriate transport projects.
Philip Taylor
Pocklington.
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