Providing more and cheaper vehicles and more roads in an attempt to provide everyone with personal mobility may have been a positive force in our earlier years. Because we have treated traffic as a major force for good we have not questioned the side-effects. We are choking our cities, draining our heartland, and undermining our personal mobility, our prosperity and our quality of life. We are overdue for fresh ideas. Strong local communities exist when people can live, work, play and learn locally.
Sprawl condemns people to cars.
This will not change overnight but it was created in 40 years and can be reversed in less. The provinces have seen their jobs and their youth drained down the same roads that bring cheap imports and produce from the big cities. Again this won t change overnight but regional development will face an uphill battle unless we start facing the true costs of transport. This can all change European cities are prosperous in large part because they have good public transport, quality walking and cycling facilities and discourage private vehicles. The Green Party will promote a Road Traffic Reduction Act similar to that passed in the UK as part of this strategy.