CARS VERSUS PUBLIC TRANSPORT IN CITIES.
FUNCTIONAL JUNCTIONS : A NEW POLICY: SYNOPSIS

Pedestrians and cyclists deserve and should have segregated landscaped paths, which never have to cross a road, because all roads are dangerous. These must reach every house, and are new routes. Though it will take time to acquire the land from many owners; they will use very little land. They will be green, beautiful, and cheap to build. They are called RADBURNS. The FUNCTIONAL JUNCTION SCHEME does not require new roads or road space. It does require road works, but these are a 100 times cheaper than building new motorways. It allows car numbers to increase three times and at the same time solves pollution, congestion, and safety, all for less money than subsidising public transport. However there is a need to change legislation and start planning immediately. National Governments must remove restrictions, on such things as, driverless cars, lower road bridges, and allow private enterprise to build new cities. Local governments must permit off street parking and refrain from building on railway land, which they call brown field sites, and slowly disallow main road shopping. But because the status quo must not be upset, only a few £ millions will be required in the next decade for design and advertising. The final cost will be no more than the Victorians spent on clean water and sewage. This report shows that the Buchanan Royal Commission report is misleading; it is possible for everyone to commute by car in towns as large as London. Because it is universally believed that congestion is unsolvable, politicians see no point in spending money on roads, as it will only increase car numbers. Just as the belief in the Malthusian population limit has been discredited I show that high-tech solutions allow for increasing car numbers. The secret of my scheme is to think in 3 dimensions, and jettison existing legislation. It does not require new inventions, only technical developments appropriate to mass-production which depend upon the political certainty that there will be no restrictions. No political party or action group appears to have a viable transport policy for urban areas. The current fashion is to blame the motor car and hope that negative restrictions will some how cure road congestion, road accidents, pollution, and the shortage of parking spaces. Yet every year more passengers travel by road (90% currently) and less by rail.