Across the world, cities are increasingly competing against each other on the basis of the quality of life they provide.

An increasingly important measure of the quality of life is the quality of their public infrastructure. This includes the road network – the highways and streets we depend on to get to work, to school or just get around.

For decades the road networks were focused purely on one objective – to keep the traffic moving. But as car ownership has grown, so have the problems of congestion.

Everyone who commutes to Oxford is aware of the problem.  There are two obvious ways to tackle congestion. The decades-old ‘solution’ has been to assume that traffic volumes will rise and that we must build more roads to accommodate the UK’s burgeoning number of vehicles. 

So, we tweak the network through ‘hamburger’ roundabouts, the installation – or removal – of traffic lights, one way systems, and other traffic management mechanisms.

But the roadworks required to deliver these improvements cost millions of pounds, and exacerbate both the congestion and the overall problem. New roads immediately fill with cars.

The second option is to reduce traffic volumes The most obvious way to do this is by encouraging road users to use more sustainable methods. A study in Cambridge showed that a 10% reduction in traffic volumes would be the equivalent of creating ‘school holiday’ road conditions.

But simply exhorting people to swap their cars for buses does not work.  Key to achieving a sustainable transport policy – and getting the traffic moving again – is understanding why.

There is clear evidence that the biggest single factor that puts people off cycling is fear. Cycling in a narrow gap between pavement and buses or lorries – or, even worse, asking our kids to negotiate these hazards in getting to school – does not appeal to anyone.

Being overtaken by fast moving cars on a narrow road is simply too scary. The council can go on and on about travel choice but there is no real choice if you feel too scared to cycle on the road.

The answer to traffic congestion it turns out is not to build more roads or roundabouts; it's to build segregated paths for cycling and walking. When segregated provision is provided, the numbers of cyclists rises beyond expectations.

This isn’t the Lycra set – just ordinary people getting around.  Boris Johnson gets it. New York gets it. Many cities in Europe got it years ago. Even Cambridge gets it – and in winning investment for new and long distance cycleway infrastructure projects it is improving the quality of life it can offer to leading academic and business talent.

In Oxford, we are behind the curve. The road networks planned for the new Westgate centre do little to encourage workers and customers to cycle; the new development in Botley will see a complete transformation of the central area - but the same old story - more roads and parking but no space for cycling.

Building segregated paths is more cost-effective than new roads and roundabouts. London represents a useful precedent - most of the people benefiting from the cycling programme aren’t cyclists.

The project has simply enabled those who want to cycle to do so and taken hundreds of cars off London’s choked streets.  It’s time to invest in the infrastructure needed for sustainable travel.

We must look forward to the creation of a genuinely world class city with an enviable quality of life that is as good as anywhere else in Europe.