SIR - While I agree with N Taylor's thoughts on the problems that congestion on our roads causes, he does not offer a viable solution.

To prevent congestion worsening, some measures such as cost increases for motorists are necessary and generally accepted as essential to reflect the true cost of the private motor car's impact. This should not be used in isolation but in conjunction with restrictions, such as employed elsewhere in England, with schemes such as bus and cycle priorities, park-and-ride sites, congestion charging and no-car zones within central urban areas.

Such measures develop a safe and pleasant leisure and shopping experience for locals and visitors alike. Would anyone wish to see a return of cars to the High Street? I think not. Other cities such as York, Oxford, Cheltenham and Bath are just some areas where councils have tailored much-needed development with a sustainable alternative to car usage, thus successfully marketing their towns and cities as desirable destinations.

Worcester is, quite rightly, doing the same. Far from "poor motorists" being driven by rising costs on to public transport and leaving our roads to become the province of "rich motorists" we are now seeing an increasingly intelligent and sensible approach by growing numbers of our community wisely choosing where and how they use their cars and opting for public transport as a positive and useful alternative when travelling within the city's environs. After all, no one became rich or stays rich by wasting money, and I would suggest that "rich motorists" take up very little road space!

DAVID MACIEJEWSKI,

St John's,

Worcester.