Letter: We buy cars not because we love them, but because there's no alternative

Sir: Hamish McRae's article ('Don't fight the car, learn to live with it', 4 August) misses the most obvious point about getting people out of cars: subsidising the public transport system properly. I have every intention of buying a car as soon as I can afford one, not because I love cars so much, but because the public transport system is not a suitable option for me to use. It is unreliable, unsafe, unpleasant and very expensive. That's not voting with my chequebook. That's being forced to go for one option because the alternative is unacceptable.

Yours faithfully,

JEAN MOLLOY

London, SE13

4 August