Chris Day writes a reader's letter outlining how to tackle congestion in a city like Oxford.

A previous correspondence by Dave Reed wrote that there has been car manufacturing in Oxford since before the current members of Cyclox were born.  

I’m not sure what point Mr Reed is making here. Would he prefer it if all the Cyclox members got off their bicycles and into cars instead?

READ MORE: Major city route into Oxford to close 

Does he think that would help with congestion and pollution in Oxford? I want to make it clear that I’m not an anti-car zealot.

Cars are a good transport solution for longer journeys, for example between towns and cities.

However, for shorter journeys within densely populated urban areas, they’re a much worse solution.

Oxford Mail:

Successful cities all over the globe are discovering that the way to stop people sitting in endless traffic jams and to create urban areas that are cleaner, quieter, safer and more pleasant places to spend time, is to do everything possible to encourage walking, cycling and public transport.

And yes, I’m fully aware that some people, for example some people with disabilities as well as many tradesmen, rely on cars or vans to get around.

READ MORE: Here's why Oxford station is closing for nine days 

However, the point here is that the more people who switch to less congesting forms of transport, the more room there is on the roads for those who genuinely have no choice but to drive.

Mr Reed also asks us to consider an alternative reality in which Oxford had never had car manufacturing plants.

Well, to answer this we need only look at our great rival university city, Cambridge.

‘The other place’ has never had any car industry, and yet it’s a thriving city with a lot of successful industry in the local area, mainly in cutting edge, rapidly expanding fields such as IT and precision engineering.

Chris Day

Marsh Baldon

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About the author 

Andy is the Trade and Tourism reporter for the Oxford Mail and you can sign up to his newsletters for free here. 

He joined the team more than 20 years ago and he covers community news across Oxfordshire.

His Trade and Tourism newsletter is released every Saturday morning. 

You can also read his weekly Traffic and Transport newsletter.