Sir, – Sylvia Thompson ("Time to replace International Car Free Day with Free Public Transport Day", September 23rd) correctly points out that an initiative like Car Free Day has very little chance of changing habits when public transport is expensive and often not viable.
As with Make Way Day and Slow Down Day, these one-off events can be useful to raise awareness, but the unwillingness of authorities to challenge car dominance for the other 364 days of the year unfortunately renders them largely ineffective. Parking on footpaths, driving in bus lanes, breaking red lights and speeding are all endemic in many areas through lack of enforcement, and as well as impacting those in wheelchairs, on foot or cycling, these offences all contribute to making public transport less effective and reliable.
So while making public transport more affordable is very important, this is only likely to have a limited impact as long a “light touch” prevails towards most forms of law breaking by motorists.
– Yours, etc,
DAVE MATHIESON,
Salthill, Galway.