PITY City Of York Council: they do something right for once and get slated for it ('Driven out', June 28).

No one's driving into the city centre to park in city centre car parks?

That's a good result isn't it?

Park & Ride is working. And the bike racks look full to me too.

High parking charges applied universally have become something like a congestion charge. Don't say it too loud because we know the Lib Dems don't like that, whatever their national policy may be.

The fact is that the road planners are correct: the greatest opposing force to more people driving is, sadly, congestion.

This means the easier driving gets, the more people will drive, so any "additional" road capacity built will quickly reach the same level of congestion.

This has been realised in transport planning since the 1960s, and I am disappointed to hear the director of a transport research group pretending it isn't so ('Dualling ruled out,' June 29).

The only way to tackle congestion is to have fewer people trying to drive.

Appealing to drivers' environmental and social consciences - even their health - doesn't affect behaviour. The council has shown that pricing does.

It needs to learn from this and think carefully how best to apply the lesson to transport policy city-wide.

Richard Lane,

Wellington Street,

York.

Updated: 11:01 Friday, July 01, 2005