Better Transport

Let's play Transport Trumps in the West Midlands.

Problem 1: There’s a lot of traffic in Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury Relief Road Road solution: Shropshire County Council wants to spend £40 million to build a road northwest of Shrewsbury. The road includes a bridge 27 metres high and 120 metres long, which would be visible - and its traffic audible - from many miles away.Two Sites of Special Scientific Interest and four Wildlife Sites are threatened, along with a Ramsar Site (wetland of European importance) at Hencott Pool.	Better alternatives to the car Traffic-cutting solution: Local people want the council to reduce traffic, congestion and local air pollution by improving public transport, buying electric-diesel buses, creating and improving cycle and walking routes and improving road layout and signalling. Contact us if you can trump this solution
**Result: Traffic-cutting solution trumps road solution!**

Problem 2: There’s a lot of traffic in Birmingham
Selly Oak road Road solution: Birmingham City Council wants to spend £58 million to build a 1-mile road around Birmingham. The road would encourage more car-dependent development, increasing CO2, traffic and pollution in the surrounding area.	Tram and rail extensions Reader's suggestion: David Kinnen (one of our web visitors) wants the rail line between Wolverhampton and Coventry through Birmingham to be a four-track route, enabling the number of express and local trains to be doubled. As well, the Midland Metro could be extended to every part of Birmingham and the surrounding boroughs. His proposal would encourage public transport use and improve access to the national public transport network. Contact us if you can trump this solution
**Result: Public transport solution trumps road solution!**

Do you know of other proposed road schemes in the West Midlands that could be trumped? If so, we want to hear about them!

In the real world of Transport Trumps, transport schemes are assessed through a cost-benefit analysis. We think the analysis is flawed because roads always come out as Top Trumps.

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