UK Transport Policy Debate Sterile Says just-auto.com

    LONDON, May 14 http://www.just-auto.com -- There is a
general election campaign underway in the UK right now and, according to Dave
Leggett, just-auto.com's managing editor, all of the old familiar cliches
concerning "transport policy" are being trotted out by the politicians.  In
his editorial on the site he refers to the often repeated "need to curb car
usage, not ownership" as a "kop-out" as no mainstream party is putting forward
proposals to seriously curb either.
    Read the full editorial at:
http://www.just-auto.com/editorial_detail.asp?id=58
    Leggett says:  "It is mainly a pretty pointless and sterile debate over
tinkering at the margins. In the real world, we know that the pain to get us
out of our cars and onto the alternatives -- where they exist -- would have to
be very high, punitive even.  And alternative modes are, in most cases, just
plain inferior.  Wait for a bus?  Well that's great fun in the rain and the
people travelling on the bus, well they're just great too aren't they? And
trains don't go where you want to go.  Let's face it:  the convenience,
security and comfort of the car takes some beating.  Oh, and driving can
actually be fun too.  Travelling with `the great unwashed' is sometimes
anything but."
    Providing adequate investment for alternatives to the car is highlighted
as a particular problem.  He adds:  "And any 'stick' for the motorist has to
be handled with extreme care, lest the voters become unduly worked up. Bottom
line: the status quo. And an awful lot of hot air."

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professionals worldwide. Targeted specifically at industry and business
professionals the site provides a single point of reference for independent
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