A vitally important fact is not being faced up to: that the current level of car usage, so much taken for granted in Britain and other 'advanced' countries, is simply not sustainable on a planet with six billion inhabitants and rising, limited resources and a finite carrying capacity.

 There is no reason why many tradesmen and those who live in the country should not use their cars. It is the large towns and cities where most people live and where effective public transport systems can be put in place that need to abandon the car. It is individual urban car usage that is the real problem, something we can not only do without, but would be far, far better off without.