This is not a rant against bikes or public transport. Indeed, I think the idea of car versus bus versus pedestrian has been pushed forward by environmental, bureaucratic and commercial interests. Nothing wrong with interests, but the push has become reflexive and narrow.

I agree with off-road cycle routes in the countryside. I see the need to sometimes let buses and bikes through pedestrianised town centres. The issue for me is the dividing up of traffic on most urban roads in a way which accepts and increases traffic jams.

To give an example, I was walking across Cobden Bridge in Southampton the other evening. I dodged two bikes on the pavement. There seems to be a core of young adults, who, for whatever reason, want to ride on pavements.

They may have been conscious of their lack of illumination. But it did make me wonder about the point of having cycle lanes on that road. Because of the introduction of cycle lanes, the two lanes of motor traffic at the traffic lights at the Triangle became one.

This has lengthened the queue at rush hour considerably. It now commonly starts on Thomas Lewis Way, about half a mile away.

There is a danger that lobbies for cyclists and public transport are being used to offer disincentives to cars by making traffic worse, while separate lanes seem to make motorists feel defensive.

It would be better to offer a transport system that consists of good roads for all road users as well as good public transport. It is time to rethink.

THOMAS COLLIER, Bitterne Park, Southampton, UKIP candidate for the Bitterne Ward.