War on motorists

sir – As the average speed on A-roads drops to 18.4mph, the Department for Transport has revealed that in Britain cars will be slower than bicycles in less than 10 years, (report, March 24).

Drivers were delayed for an average of one minute per mile last year, with London recording an average A-road speed of only 7.6mph and Manchester 15.3mph. The loss of time to businesses and vital services is incalculable; there is also a direct and detrimental effect on pollution levels.

In spite of this, Transport for London is attempting to impose “cycle superhighways” at the very same time it announces that it will no longer carry out routine repairs of potholes.

Greenpeace – not known as a bunch of petrol-heads – recognises that air pollution and congestion go “hand in hand”. It seems that TFL and the cycling organisations with which it works will not admit that reducing traffic flow even further by giving road space to the 2 per cent of the population who cycle is unjust and adds significantly to pollution and congestion. A proposed cycle superhighway on Chiswick High Road, for example, will wipe out the 13 per cent fall in pollution achieved by improving the traffic flow.

TFL and cycling organisations say they want to create infrastructure in order to persuade people to cycle, even though studies have shown that it does the opposite. Between 2004 and 2016, cycling has increased countrywide from 1 per cent of modal share to just 2 per cent because it simply is not a sensible option for most 21st-century journeys. Time for the 98 per cent to stand up and be counted. Charlotte Kasner

London W4