IN RESPONSE to recent coverage and letters concerning traffic problems, congestion will not go away of its own accord.

Congestion and pollution have increased steadily over the last century and are caused by too many people driving.

Why do people drive so much? Tradespeople and delivery drivers drive because it’s essential for their job. Some people drive because they love driving.

But many drive because they don’t have an alternative.

Until recently, town planners have assumed that everyone has a car – which excludes the 40 per cent who don’t. This has led to neighbourhoods without shops and amenities within walking distance, often poorly served by public transport, and roads designed primarily for vehicles, leaving cycling squeezed and often dangerous and walking unpleasant.

Bus journey times are unpredictable because of traffic, making them less attractive and pushing people into cars, continuing the vicious circle.

Our government has now realised that cycling is a vital transport option in cities and that people will only cycle if they feel safely protected from traffic on busy roads.

Every city that makes its roads safer, in the UK and abroad, sees an increase in cycling.

Most politicians have chosen to ignore the urgent need to reallocate space from vehicles, as voters often resist change. As a result we have low cycling rates and high car use and among the worst congestion in Europe. Our economy and health systems suffer from high rates of inactivity, social exclusion and conditions such as asthma and obesity.

The Old Shoreham Road is a residential road, with a park, shops and restaurants along its length and schools and a hospital nearby.

Until recently it was unsafe for cycling and extremely unpleasant to walk along. Thanks to pop-up cycle lanes, children can now cycle to school and adults to work. It will be some time before these lanes fulfil their potential because feeder roads, such as Sackville Road, Boundary Road and Olive Road are still unsafe to cycle.

You can’t use a cycle lane unless you can get to it safely. For the benefit of all our community, we need a steady programme of vehicle reduction and increased safe cycle routes.

Doing nothing leads to increasing car use. There are twice as many cars on our roads as in the 1990s. For many years, our community has been suffering toxic air from congestion. Making roads safe for cycling is a vital step towards solving this. It’s time for people to stop blaming the city’s transport problems on a couple of cycle lanes and tackle the real issue: how to reduce car dependency and improve neighbourhoods to be quality, liveable communities that enhance our health, economy and wellbeing.

Chris Williams

Bricycles (Brighton and Hove Cycling

Campaign)