It is indeed ironic

I refer to the letter Ironic, Isn't It? (October 15).

The correspondent quite rightly found the debacle that was car-free day ironic. However, I found that the correspondent's closing question - "Is it that hard to use public transport for one day in a year?" - served to further fuel this irony. In my view, this question demonstrates the sort of logic that has resulted in the failure of car-free day.

Car-free day is not a one-off event that allows us to catch the bus once and assuage our environmental conscience for the rest of the year as many would appear to consider it. It is part, or should be, of a concentrated sustainable effort to take cars off the road.

This is done through the provision of viable alternatives. The fact that people use public transport once a year and drive their cars for the remainder suggests that the required alternatives are not there or are not considered to be adequate enough.

On the other hand, recent efforts that have resulted in the creation of additional public transport facilities such as the new bus routes are to be applauded. This is the sort of effort that successfully reduces congestion and related pollution through the provision of a sustainable alternative and is the way to go.

With more initiatives of this nature I am sure that future car-free days will have a wider and more lasting effect than the current effort.