THE county council should be applauded for measures proposed in its latest local transport plan calling for bus gates in Thames St, Worcester St or Frideswide Square, and on St Cross Rd.

For all cyclists in the city, and for anyone who wishes to breathe unpolluted air, bus gates that allow buses, taxis and bikes through but not private cars, are unmitigated good news.

The idea, of course, is not to penalise drivers, rather it is to prevent drivers from penalising everyone else by driving along roads where there is no longer space for them.

Over the years, Oxfordshire’s love of the car has gone stratospheric. Most of Oxford’s arterial roads, and those in the market towns, have heavy traffic at commuter times. A few are rammed all day long. Heavy traffic is stressful and dangerous, bringing out the worst in frustrated drivers.

Let’s not forget the invisible spectre of air pollution. The Conservatives have historically applauded the individual’s “choice” to drive, but when that choice renders the road network useless and leaves us all with no choice but to choke on the fumes – what kind of choice is that?

Plenty of central Oxford streets are already closed to regular traffic. It is better for traders and shoppers, and for commuters, that cars can’t drive along High Street. If they were allowed to, you can be sure they would, and the High would be as unusable as Cowley Road.

Oxford needs to close the inner ring road (Longwall Street) to through traffic, as well as the Worcester Street area, with a bus gate. The few that genuinely need to drive, such as disabled people, would still have access to the centre.

Other motorists travelling to or through the city centre would be faced with more circuitous journeys, incentivising those that can to take the bus, walk or cycle. It makes economic sense: time is money, and hours wasted in queues take a toll on our health as well as our wallets.

It’s claimed that a bus gate would “split this historic city in half”. Tosh. The Cutteslowe Walls divided the city. A bus gate in Worcester Street would simply mean that people in Jericho walk or cycle to the station, or get a taxi with luggage. And the poor souls of North Oxford who drive to the station have a lovely new facility at Oxford Parkway that is both cheaper and faster than the Oxford line.

It is claimed that a bus gate would risk putting off businesses and shoppers from coming to Oxford. More tosh. As an outsider, I deliberately avoid Oxford because of the dreadful congestion. Bus gates would reduce car traffic and make the city a more attractive destination, not less. Traders seem to live in this absurd 1950s’ reality where shoppers drive in town to the shops. They don’t. They can’t.

The writing is on the wall: the future is two-wheeled (or for the less lucky, stuck on a bus). The inexorable rise of car ownership mustn’t condemn Oxford to vehicular paralysis. People need to wake up, sniff the diesel, and get behind bus gates and other restrictions on private cars before it’s too late.