CARS are a waste of space. Oxford receives 80,000 commuters per day, 9.3 million other visitors per year and numbers keep rising.

In 1991, 54 per cent of road trips into central Oxford were by car, 27 per cent by bus and 11 per cent by bicycle. In 1999, the Oxford Transport Strategy was introduced. By 2005, 53 per cent of road journeys into central Oxford were by bus, 30 per cent by car and 10 per cent by bicycle.

A third of Oxford residents are in households with no car. In 2001, 3,100 Oxford residents (2.3 per cent) were permanently sick or disabled, 23,000 (17 per cent) were 16 or younger and 5,000 (3.8 per cent) 80 or over. Now even more of us are students or elderly. Many people could not drive even if the roads were big enough to do so.

Ron Lewis (Letters, July 19) claims bicycles “went out decades ago” and “there are far too many buses” in Oxford. He wants consultants to give Oxford a “complete new road system” to make driving easier. That would increase demand for parking. City council car parks have barely 2,400 spaces across Oxford. Adding thousands more spaces would both be costly and leave less room for work and leisure.

Fewer than 10 per cent of Oxford’s car commuters car-share. But even with sharing, car parks use much more space per person than walking, cycling, motorcycling or buses.

The new partnership will adjust bus numbers closer to actual demand. Let us see how well it works before saying whether Oxford has too many buses.

HUGH JAEGER

Oxford Group Chairman

Bus Users UK Oxford Group