NO ONE in the early days of the 20th century ever thought that the new invention of the motor car would in the future bring on such pollution and health problems.

The humble car has unfortunately become a necessity for the population to move from A to B. Over the years more and more cars clog up our over- burdened road systems, but as quick as highways are improved the more they clog up. Fumes from these vehicles are now beginning to play havoc with people's health. Now we are also getting to the situation where the road systems are breaking up and councils can’t afford to keep up the maintenance, so what's the answer?

Some councils feel it's time to ban vehicles entering town and city centres at certain times of the day or even banning them completely unless the driver is wealthy enough to afford an electric car.

Some councils have at least attempted to ease the gridlock by introducing park-and-ride schemes, although others prefer to bury their heads in the sand.

The future, the government say, is the electric car because it causes no apparent omissions but somewhere it is. The electric car requires charging and can only be driven for a certain distance before it requires charging again. How long a charge will last must depend on what the driver is operating in his vehicle, if he is using headlights, heaters, demisters and other accessories it must make a difference. I have been informed the minimum time needed to partly charge a battery is 30 mins, but a full charge takes many hours.

Just how the average person will be able to charge their vehicle is puzzling in the least. The government says there will be charging points all over the place, but what does one do if they live in a high-rise flat or can only park on the road side, or there is a power cut? Just how is the National Grid going to cope with this huge surge needed to supply enough energy to charge all the millions of cars parked up at night?

The hybrid is fortunately a better choice as it can at least charge its batteries on a run. This is, of course, only part of the answer. Unfortunately the car has become essential due to the fact that public transport is non-existent in many areas with the government admitting some areas are becoming a desert for public transport. Train companies fair no better as they are forcing commuters to use their own transport due to the exorbitant prices they charge passengers to get to work, plus the demise of many services and lack of reliability

Thousands of new homes are being built around the country with no thought how the residents are supposed to get to work or anything else. They build these estates with narrow roads and hardly any parking. The average house requires room for at least three vehicles. So what is the answer? You can’t just ban vehicles out of cities and towns without sorting out the infrastructure first.

Firstly large park-and-ride systems need to be in place and cheap reliable public transport needs to be introduced. Public transport has to be provided by the government and not private companies who are there only to make profits for themselves and share holders. Yes it will cost millions or possibly even billions to run, but taken what it is costing this country in trying to keep the roads open and the health of the population, there is little choice. In Southampton we have a major issue over the amount of container traffic wishing to enter the container port. The present plans will never be suffice, what will be needed is a new road/ flyover to take the traffic from the motorway into the port, that will alleviate much of the build-up at Redbridge.

Our city fathers want to charge large vehicles to enter the city and drivers with diesel vehicles a toll to enter the city. A wonderful idea but do we want to create a ghost town? Many transport companies are already struggling to survive and many will feel it is the final nail in the coffin and will not bother to come into Southampton. This may mean many companies moving out of the area, but at least there will be plenty of extra space for more student accommodation

A Semple

Southampton