Would anyone today design a city with throughfares of traffic, or certainly not through areas of housing. Cars would ideally be banned from urban areas. Tradesmen will need access to their tools, so should get a subsidy for non-polluting vehicles. Cul-de-sacs shoukd become the norm – ambulance and police, etc. times would be cut due to the reduction in traffic.
With co-ordinated and sensible public transport systems we could cut the number of cars rapidly. Rural areas will still need cars as buses are unlikely to be a viable option. I live in a rural area, but I and many others could exist perfectly happily with small scale electric vehicles. A expansion in car hire – preferably green – would provide for the visits that need something more than public transport (or maybe we just have to adapt?). For the majority of people this would be cheapers than owning a second or third vehicle. And probably provide them with a better quality vehicle which is also cheaper to run. Maybe we also need to het used to ordering from superparkets online? Lets have post code days for delivery – a no brainer to me?