Congestion solutions

We certainly need to break our petroleum addiction but more importantly, we need to break our addiction to the private motor vehicle. Blaming cars or even petroleum is like the archetypal workman blaming his tools. The real issue is that there are too many motorists clogging the roads.

As for electric cars, they are certainly not the motoring equivalent of the free lunch. They still need batteries to power them and roads to run on. And guilt-free motoring will lead to even more congestion, especially in the cities. We will just have a sweeter-smelling traffic jam.

To reduce driver numbers and congestion we need a choice of transport options including rail. Few New Zealand cities, apart from perhaps Auckland and Wellington, offer public transport options that are fast, frequent, reliable and relatively cheap. People drive because it’s convenient, and alternatives are often not available at times when they wish to travel.

Ian Badger, Akaroa

Writers of recent letters to the editor present ideas they believe will solve complex problems.

Andrew Keighley blames speculators for the housing crisis. Lack of land supply due to local body restrictions, high land cost, higher building standards and our desire for large houses on large sections have a greater effect than speculation.

Abandoning our diesel and petrol vehicles, as suggested by Robert Glennie, is not feasible, because as a nation we have a low population density and a poor public transport system. Lowering our carbon footprint