Transport: Britons cling to the driving seat

The public's obsession with the motorcar continues unabated, despite ministers' pleas to get out of the driving seat and on to public transport.

The latest survey, from Equifax, a credit service, shows that three out of four motorists said they were against the government proposals. Only three in ten people believed that more efficient trains and buses would mean fewer cars on the road. The car capitals of Britain, where households have more than one vehicle in the driveway, were Guildford, where residents crave bigger, brasher models such as BMW and Mercedes, Hemel Hempstead, Redhill, Slough and Kingston-upon-Thames. Politically, transport could be a bomb the Government does not wish to defuse. In doing so, it would need to tackle car-use in such newly won Labour strongholds as Stevenage in Hertfordshire, placed eighth in the car-capital table.